
DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEW 



THE "PRAM" EXPEDITION. 

NflNSEN 

IN THE 

PRECEDED BY A BIOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT EXPI^ORER AND COPIOUvS 
EXTRACTS FROM NANSEN'S "FIRST CROSSING OF GREENLAND," 
AI.SO AN ACCOUNT BY EIVIND ASTRUP, OF I,IFE AMONG 
PEOPI.E NEAR THE POLE, AND HIS ^ 

Jonrinej Rmtt Roi'ier'ii Sreenlanil 

WITH 

I^ieut. R. K. PEARY, U.S.N. 



ARRANGED AND EDITED 
By S. jS. BERENS, Cand. Plnil. 



FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPAL 

earlier Hrctic explorations 

FROM THE NINTH CENTURY TO THE PEARY EXPEDITION, INCLUDING 

THOSE OF CABOT, FROBISHER, BERING, SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 

KANE, HAYES, HALL, NORDENSKJOLD, NARES, SCHWATKA, 

DkLONG, GREELY, AND OTHERS. 

By JOHN E. READ, 

Assistant Editor of the '' Cohimhian Cyclopedia." 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



PHILADEIvPHIA, PA.: 

A. J. HOIvMAN & CO., Publishers. 
1897. 






Copyright, 1897, by A. J. Holman & Co. 



PREFACE 

Among the subjects that are "old yet ever new," that of Arctic 
Exploration holds a prominent place. It interested the hardy- 
Northmen a thousand years ago, and it has a still stronger fasci- 
nation for the people of the present day. It is natural that this 
should be the case. The human mind is so constituted that it is 
always seeking to learn about things that lie beyond the immedi- 
ate range of its knowledge. Among intelligent and progressive 
people there is always a desire to investigate and explore the 
unknown. This is followed by efforts to secure the knowledge 
for which a wish has been formed. In the case of Arctic Explo- 
ration, the desire to know whether there were islands or conti- 
nents beyond the narrow range of their vision led the pioneers 
in this great work to sail upon unknown seas. Probably a love 
of adventure also urged them on, but this could hardly have been 
the leading motive in their dangerous voyages. At an early 
period in the history of such enterprises the commercial spirit 
became a factor, and in later days the love of scientific investiga- 
tion was added to the other elements in the combination of forces 
which led men to brave the dangers and endure the hardships 
inseparable from the work of Arctic Exploration. 

The latest of the great Arctic explorers to reach his home is 
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, a young Norwegian scientist, who went 
much farther north than man had ever been, farther even than 
the companion who accompanied him to latitude 86° 14'. In 
Europe and America he is the hero of the day. His accurate 
knowledge, wonderful foresight, marvellous skill, splendid execu- 
tive ability, magnificent courage, and unconquerable determina- 
tion carried him to a success far greater than any of his prede- 
cessors were able to secure. It is fitting that the record of his 
brilliant achievements should be given to the public in a handsome 
and a permanent form. With this end in view the present book 
has been prepared. It also seemed desirable that it should con- 
tain a biography of Dr. Nansen and an account of his work, much 
of which was valuable, previous to the great exploit which brought 



ii PREFACE 

him world-wide fame. Thus the people could be brought to 
know the man as well as to learn of his deeds. In order to add 
still further to its interest and make it not only an entertaining 
but also a permanently valuable book, it was decided to add other 
features. The great journey across the inland ice of Greenland 
by Lieutenant Peary, of the United States Navy, and Eivind 
Astrup, is fully described, and a sketch is given of the Second 
Peary Expedition. The concluding portion of the book is a 
connected sketch of the principal expeditions to the North from 
their earliest date down to the time of the ones just described. 
Thus the entire historical period of Arctic Exploration to the 
return of Nansen and the Fram in 1896 has been covered. 

The materials for this work have been obtained from the best 
sources, and their arrangement has received careful attention.- 
The biography of Dr. Nansen and a description of the planning 
and executing of the great journey across Greenland were mainly 
written by two eminent Norwegian scholars, Professor W. C. 
Brogger and Professor Nordahl Rolfsen, both intimate friends of 
the great explorer. The story of the Crossing of the Inland Ice 
is related by Nansen himself, while several of the following chap- 
ters were prepared by his Norwegian friends. The description 
of the Voyage of the Fravi, of the Great Sledge Expedition and 
its wonderful success, and of the return of the explorers, is given 
in Nansen's own words. Across Northern Greenland, an account 
of the expedition of Lieutenant Peary, is by Eivind Astrup, an 
entertaining writer and famous explorer who accompanied Peary 
in the perilous journey to the extreme northern portion of that 
desolate land. In the preparation of the history of the Earlier 
Arctic Explorations the works of the best writers upon the sub- 
ject were consulted. Where discrepancies were found, as they 
were in several instances, the evidence was carefully weighed and 
the statements which seemed to have the strongest claim for 
accuracy were accepted. Of the more than one hundred illustra- 
tions, many of them full-page, which not only add to the beauty 
of the book but greatly increase its utility, a large number are 
from photographs taken upon the spot and are absolutely perfect 
representations of the scenes which they place before the eye. 
For several of these illustrations we are under obligations to Mr. 
Alfred C. Harmsworth, patron of the Jackson-Harmsworth Ex- 
pedition, and some were obtained from Nansen's " Fram Over 



PREFACE iii 

Polhavet," published in Norway. Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & 
Company and The Lothrop Publishing Company kindly furnished 
several portraits ; the publishers of McClure's Magazine allowed 
the use of a number of fine plates, and through the courtesy of 
Dr. Robert N. Keely, surgeon to Peary's First Expedition, and 
Dr. Gwilym G. Davis, member of the Archaeological Association 
of the University of Pennsylvania, many extremely beautiful 
sketches and photographs are given. 

The investigation of the cheerless region of the North has 
been attended by constant danger and has involved heavy losses 
of life and property. But the work has not been done in vain. 
It opened the way for the formation of colonies, for the develop- 
ment of commerce, for extensive and profitable whale and seal 
fisheries, and has greatly enlarged the bounds of human know- 
ledge. Not only has there been an enormous advance in the line 
of geographical information, but much has been learned regarding 
geology, meteorology, zoology, and kindred sciences. Work in 
this direction has also made known to civilized nations a most 
interesting race of people who not only live, but who appear to 
fully enjoy life, in a region of perpetual snow and ice. Then, too, 
the heroism, fortitude and fidelity of the noble men who, at the 
imminent risk of their lives, have gone to this inhospitable region 
and in the face of appalling dangers, and while enduring most 
terrible sufferings, have struggled on in order that they might 
open to the civilized world the vast domain which had so long 
remained unknown, have been object lessons of faith and hope to 
all the world. And as long as courage is admired, devotion to 
duty is respected, and self-sacrifice is revered, so long will the 
deeds of the heroes who have toiled amid the awful dreariness 
and desolation of the Frozen World be held in honored remem- 
brance. 

Further progress in Arctic Exploration will involve difficulty 
and danger, but the end is not yet. What has been accomplished 
will stimulate to renewed effort, and the knowledge that has been 
gained in the past will greatly aid in the future prosecution of the 
work. The genius and energy of man are pitted against the 
barriers of nature, and sooner or later nature will be compelled to 
reveal her secrets to his gaze. Those who are inclined to doubt 
the probability of carrying further an investigation of the Arctic 
region should be encouraged by the fact that many things which 



iv PREFACE 

were long deemed impossible have been accomplished and that 
the future may be expected to bring as great surprises as the past 
has given. A curious illustration of the uncertainty of predic- 
tions regarding the success of Arctic Exploration is found in the 
book of an able English writer. The preface of this work was 
dated March 25, 1850, a time at which interest in the fate of Sir 
John Franklin was at its height. The last words of the book 
express a hope that " England will be careful of again risking the 
lives of her adventurous sons in further attempts to discover 
what cannot be looked upon in any other light than that of a 
geographical ignis fatims,'Y\\& Northwest Passage." Yet from 
documents which were afterward found it was proved that the 
Franklin expedition had discovered this passage not less than 
three years before its non-existence was so emphatically affirmed. 
During the last half century great advances along the line of 
Arctic Exploration have been made and interest has waxed instead 
of waned. Each new discovery seems to stimulate to still stronger 
endeavor, and public interest in the subject was never as high as 
it is at the present time. Projects of various kinds are being 
considered and preparations for further efforts are under way. 
Which of the various plans proposed will lead to success, or 
whether one radically different from any that have been sug- 
gested will be required, cannot be affirmed. But it is safe to say 
that, sooner or later, the great Arctic problem will be solved. 
The work will be carried on until the region at the North that is 
now unknown has been explored and a flag has been unfurled 
upon the precise spot which geographers designate as the Pole. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Ancestry — Childhood . . . . . . . 9 

II. Youth 24 

III. Nansen's Greenland Expedition — Preparation — 

Plan — Equipment 35 

IV. Across Greenland 54 

V. Drifting in the Ice 78 

VI. An Eskimo Encampment on the East Coast . . 86 
VI I. The Crossing of the Inland Ice — The First Sight 

OF Land and First Drink of Water . . . .113 

VIII. The Descent to Ameralikfjord 136 

IX. Arrival at Godthaab 145 

X. With the Current 177 

XI. Nansen at Home and Abroad 188 

XII. On Board the "Fram" 218 

NANSEN'S STORY AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 

XIII. Introduction 249 

XIV. The Voyage of the "Fram" 257 

XV. The Great Sledge Expedition 271 

XVI. Homeward Bound 296 

XVII. How the "Fram" fared — Sverdrup's Story . . 302 

PEARY'S JOURNEY ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

XVIII. Winter Quarters and Preparations . . . 323 

XIX. Across the Ice Cap 339 

XX. The Second Peary Expedition 357 

XXI. Natives at Smith Sound 366 

XXII. Hunting . . . . . . . . . . 370 

XXIII. The North Greenland Dog 395 

XXIV. Home Life, Habits and Character .... 406 
XXV. Intelligence, Religious Ideas and Customs . . 421 

EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

XXVI. Pioneer Voyages . . 441 

XXVII. Interest renewed 456 

XXVIII. Heroic Endeavors . 477 

XXIX. Great Disasters 516 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Dr. Fridtjof Nansen Frontispiece 

Hans Nansen ............ lo 

Baron Christian F. V. Wedel-Jarlsberg (Nansen's Grandiathcr) . . 14 

Baroness C. F. V. Wedel-Jarlsberg (Nansen's Grandmothc.) . . 15 

Fridtjof Nansen and his Father .16 

Nansen's Mother 17 

Great Frden — The Dwelling-house 19 

Nansen as a Child 20 

Nansen as a Boy ...-., .... .21 

In the Polar Sea 32 

The Members of the Greenland Expedition 54 

Sverdrup on Guard on the Ice Floe .... P acing page 56 

Under Sail in the Moonlight — Crevasses ahead 69 

Nansen and Sverdrup in the Canvas Boat . - 71 

Nansen at Thirty-one . . . . . . . . . ' 7^ 

Tailpiece : Head of Walrus 85 

The Eskimo Encampment at Cape Bille 86 

Eskimo Beauty, from the East Coast, in her Old Age .... 97 

Eskimo Boy, from the Camp at Cape Bille 98 

Eskimos, from the Camp at Cape Bille ...... loi 

" An unusually sociable woman " 105 

" Then the master came out of the tent " 107 

Canoes among the Floes . . . , . ' no 

First Attempts at Sailing 117 

" And there I lay gazing after the ship and its sail " . . . .119 

Sailing on the Inland Ice 121 

Sailing in Moonlight 125 

Coasting down the Slopes 129 

An Awkward Predicament .-137 

Roughish Ice 139 

Rest and Reflection [40 

Into Better Ice again 141 

Upon the Brow of an Ice-slope 143 

The Boat and its Builder 145 

Shooting Gulls from the Boat ......... 149 

By Ameralikfjord 153 

Bolette — Greenland Woman of Mixed Race 165 

Nansen in 1893 179 

Nansen on the Ice — Summer Dress 181 

Nansen on the Ice — Winter Dress 183 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii 

Eva Nansen Facing page i88 

Dr. Nansen Facing page 190 

Nansen's Home 197 

Nansen's Study at Godthaab Facing page 198 

The Launch of the " Fram " Facing page 202 

Nansen and Mrs. Nansen on Snow-shoes 211 

The " Fram " in Bergen 219 

Lieutenant Johansen 224 

Kitchen of the " Fram " 230 

Saloon on the " Fram " 233 

Nansen's Study on the " Fram " 237 

Colin Archer, the Builder of the " Fram " 244 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

The " Fram " leaving Bergen, Norway, for the Arctic Regions . . 246 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

Members of the Norwegian Polar Expedition, 1893-96 Facing page 249 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

OutHne Draught of the " Fram "..... Facing page 252 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

The " Fram" in the Ice-pack 263 

(By courtesy of McClure's Magazine.) 

Playing Cairds on Board the " Fram " .... Facing page 264 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.') 
Crew of the "Fram" when Nansen and Johansen left the 

Ship .......... Facing page 272 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

Dr. Nansen and Lieutenant Johansen leaving the " Fram "... 274 

Hunting Walrus on the East Coast of Taimyr Peninsula Facing page 282 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 
Toward the South : Nansen and Johansen Homeward bound, 

May I, 1896 . Facing page 288 

(From " Fram Over Polhavet.") 

Meeting of Dr. Nansen and Mr. Jackson in Franz Josef Land, June, 1896 293 

(By permission of Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth.) 

Dr. Nansen in Franz Josef Land, June 1896 297 

(By permission of Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth.) 

Captain Otto Neumann Sverdrup .... Facing page 302 

The " Fram " in the Harbor of Christiania after her Return . . • 314 

Nansen's Reception at Christiania, September 9, 1896 Facing page 316 

Lieutenant Robert E. Peary, U. S. N 321 

Eivind Astrup 324 

Our First Bear Facing ■page 324 

Ice-pack in Melville Bay 326 

The " Kite " at Melville Bay Facing page 326 

Peary's House and Tent 335 

Iceberg off Cape Cleveland, McCormick Bay 336 

Separation of Ice Floes . 338 

Peary and his Companions 340 

The Midnight Sun . Facing page 340 

A Specimen of Greenland Flora 346 



viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Musk Ox . 349 

The Relief Party meeting Peary and Astrup . . . Facing page 350 

Peary and Astrup hoisting Flags on Navy Cliff 356 

Young Eskimo Girls and Native Hut at Godhavn 358 

The " Falcon" among Icebergs Facmg page 358 

Walrus taking a Sun Bath Facing page 360 

Sea-birds 364 

Watching for Seal 371 

Sledge from Smith Sound 373 

Eskimo Fox-trap 374 

Bear attacking Seal 375 

Different Weapons and Implements . . . . %. . Facing page 380 

Attacking a Walrus Facing page 384 

A Group of Seals Facing page 386 

Shooting Seals 389 

Reindeer 391 

Catching Auks with a Net 393 

A Favorite Dog 395 

Dog Harness 397 

Dogs of Northern Greenland Facing page 400 

A Group of Pups 405 

Eskimo Boy 406 

An Eskimo House in Winter 407 

Stone Huts or Igloos — taken at Midnight 409 

Cape York, Smith Sound — Eskimo Sleds on the Ice . . . . 411 

Interior of Hut 413 

Sir John Franklin Facing page 441 

Martin Frobisher 447 

Henry Grinnell ........... 479 

Dr. E. K. Kane 483 

Dr. Isaac I. Hayes . " . . 489 

C. F. Hall 493 

A. E. Nordenskjold 505 

Lieutenant G. W. De Long, U. S. N. 517 

Com. George W. Melville, U. S. N 520 

Tailpiece: Polar Bear 531 

MAPS 

Map of Greenland Facing page 146 

Map of Projected and Actual Routes of the " Fram " and 

Course of Sledge Expedition Facing page 266 

(By courtesy of McClure's Magazine.) 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



CHAPTER I 

ANCESTRY CHILDHOOD 



Hans Nansen, Fridtjof Nansen's ancestor, born No- 
vember 28, 1598, in Flensburg, had as a sixteen years 
old lad gone to the White Sea in his uncle's ship — in 
those days quite an adventurous enterprise. They had 
practically no charts, they were scantily supplied with 
instruments, and they had to keep cannon and cutlasses 
in readiness. In the course of the voyage, indeed, they 
had been twice overhauled and plundered by the Eng- 
lish. Now they were fast in the ice at Kola. But the 
intelligent boy, eager for knowledge, did not permit him- 
self to be depressed. He employed the time in learning 
Russian, and in the summer, when the uncle bent his 
course southward again, i his . nephew did not accompany 
him. He preferred to stay behind and learn more. He 
travelled alone " through" several districts of Russia id 
the town of Kuwantz." From Kuwantz he took ship in 
September for Copenhagen. ^ 

His character came early to maturity, and his ■ powers 
could not brook inaction. He had not completed His 
twenty-first year when King Christian IV; placed- him at 
the head of an expedition to the rich fur regions ■ about 



lo NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

the Petschora. But the ice was too much for him. He 
had to make up his mind to winter at Kola. Here he 
received a commission from the Czar of Russia, and 
undertook, by imperial order, an exploration of the coast 




HANS NANSEN 



of the White Sea. Not until he reached Archangel did 
he rejoin his ship. 

After that he held a command for eighteen seasons in 
the service of the Iceland Company. He was by nature a 
keen observer and a born leader of men, full of alert prac- 
ticality, and yet with a strong literary bent. And he was 
eminently disposed to share with others the fruits of his 



NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD ii 

reading. " When I had nothing else to do," he writes, 
" I copied out extracts from the Bible, and from various 
cosmographical and geographical works, to serve as an 
index and commonplace-book for future reference. . . . 
And when, a little while ago, I read it through again, I 
thought that perhaps there might be others who would 
be glad to know these things, but who, on account of 
other occupations and so forth, had neither time nor 
opportunity to study the great works on cosmography. 
For the benefit of such persons I have given to the 
press this brief digest." The title ran : " Compendium 
Cosmographicum ; being a short description of the en- 
tire earth, etc. Treating, furthermore, of the sea and of 
navigation, with certain serviceable directions thereto 
appertaining." 

The " Compendium Cosmographicum " became a pop- 
ular handbook, so much read by seafaring men and 
others, that four editions were exhausted in the author's 
lifetime. Indeed, we gather that up to a few years ago it 
had not quite gone out of use. The copy now in the 
possession of the Nansen family came, according to a 
well-authenticated tradition, direct from a skipper who 
sailed by it. Inside the old cover, the late owner of the 
book has inscribed the following testimonial : — 

" This book is of great use to seafaring folk. Ote 
Borgersen Aas^ 1841." 

Thus the handbook of the gallant old Arctic skipper 
may be said to have done service down to the very thresh- 
old of the time when his descendant was preparing to 
add new " courses " to those he had so diligently laid 
down — " courses " across Greenland and to the North 
Pole. 



12 NANSEN- IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

At the age of forty, Hans Nansen begins to rise in the 
world ; and soon he exchanges the command of a ship's 
crew for that of the burghers of Copenhagen. He first 
became town councillor, then one of the four burgo- 
masters, and in 1654 he held the chief place among the 
four. Shrewd, ready-witted, eloquent, accustomed to 
command, and endowed with a firm will and invincible 
energy, he seemed specially created to take part, and a 
leading part, in the critical times which followed. 

In 1658 the Swedish king, Karl Gustav, declared war 
and invaded Zealand. The Estates met at the Palace, 
the royal message was read, and the king addressed them 
in person. It fell to the lot of Hans Nansen to answer 
that the burghers " would stand by the king through 
thick and thin," and the populace behind him shouted 
their assent. Not only was the integrity of their native 
land at stake, but civic freedom and independence as 
well. On the following day, the loth of August 1658, 
the Privy Council was obliged to issue a proclamation 
" which was as good as a patent of nobility to all the mer- 
chants and handicraftsmen of Copenhagen." Karl Gustav 
understood its significance. " Since the burghers have 
obtained such privileges," he exclaimed, " no doubt they '11 
stand a tussle." And during this " tussle " the leading 
burgomaster of Copenhagen had no peace either by day 
or night. Earthworks had to be constructed, ditches 
filled, provisions laid in, soldiers quartered, the burghers 
drilled and commanded, and public order preserved in the 
midst of a concourse of people crowding into the city 
from every side. " We find him now at home, opening 
his plate chest and his money-box, placing great sums at 
the king's disposal, lending him his carriage and horses, 



NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 13 

and all the time doing his best to keep up the spirits of 
his own family ; now in the Town Hall sitting in council 
or on the bench ; now in the Chamber, now with the 
king ; then again at a regimental . inspection, or on the 
fire-watch tower, or at the outworks, with . the bullets 
picking men off on every side ; now listening to the ser- 
mons which were preached on the ramparts, now going 
the rounds with the night patrol." And when it comes 
to meeting the enemy outside the fortifications, the inde- 
fatigable burgomaster is still in the van. 

It is certain that there are remarkable points of simi- 
larity between the old burgomaster and his grandson's 
grandson's grandson. 

It would seem as though Fridtjof Nansen himself were 
conscious of this hereditary strain in his character. In 
one of his letters to his father, he speaks of the Nansen 
pride, which in his case, when occasion demands, takes 
the form of an adamantine stubbornness. 

But this pride does not descend to him on the male 
side alone ; through his tnother he inherits the blood of 
the Wedels. 

Count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg, the famous political 
leader of 18 14, afterwards Viceroy (Statholder) of Nor- 
way, had a younger brother. Baron Christian Frederik 
Vilhelm of Fornebo, whose daughter was the mother of 
Fridtjof Nansen. Thus, if pride and spirit of adventure 
may be said to lie at the root of the father's family-tree, 
every branch of the mother's bears evidence of the same 
qualities. 

A few words more about the Nansen family. Hans 
Nansen, Municipal President, Privy Councillor, and Judge 
of the Supreme Court, died at Copenhagen, November 12, 



14 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

1667. A daughter of his eldest son, Michael Nansen, was 
married to the celebrated Peter Griffenfeld. A younger 
son, Hans Nansen, was Municipal President of Copen- 
hagen at the time of his death in 17 18. His grandson 
was Ancher Anthony Nansen, with whom the male line 




BARON CHRISTIAN F. V. WEDEL-JARLSBERG (nANSEN'S GRANDFATHER) 

removed to Norway. In 1761 he became district magis- 
tmte of Outer Sogn, and there married a lady of the 
name of Leierdahl, a member of the Geelmuyden family. 
His only son was called Hans Leierdahl Nansen, who in 



NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 



15 



September, 1809, became judge in Guldalen, and later rep- 
resentative for Stavanger district in Storthinget. He was 
divorced from his first wife and married again, 18 10, a 
daughter of court-printer Moller of Copenhagen. They 
were Fridtjof Nansen's grandfather and grandmother. 




BARONESS C. F. V. WEDEL-JARLSBERG (NANSEN'S GRANDMOTHER) 

Fridtjofs father, Baldur Fridtjof Nansen, was born in 
Egersund in 181 7. After the death of his father in the 
twenties, Baldur Nansen's mother removed from Egersund 
to Stavanger, for the sake of her son's education. Here 



i6 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



she lived till 1835, when he matriculated at the University 
of Christiania. 

" He was industrious," says an intimate friend of the 

Nansen family in a 
letter, " well - behaved 
and exemplary in 
every respect. His 
abilities were not bril- 
liant, but, being strict- 
ly and plainly brought 
up, and stimulated by 
the influence of his 
clever mother, he 
passed all his exami- 
nations with a certain 
distinction, and be- 
came an accomplished 
jurist. He had none 
of his parents' wit and 
fancy; but he was 
noted for his thor- 
oughly refined, amiable, and courteous manners and dis- 
position." 

He became Reporter to the Supreme Court; but he 
was principally employed in finance and conveyancing. 
He enjoyed unbounded confidence. 

Baldur Nansen's first wife was the daughter of Major- 
General Sorensen, and sister to the wife of the poet Jorgen 
Moe. His second wife (Fridtjof's mother) was Adelaide 
Johanna Isidora, nee Wedel-Jarlsberg, who also had been 
married before. Mrs. Adelaide Nansen is described as a 
tall and stately lady, capable and resolute, even-tempered 




FRIDTJOF NANSEN AND HIS FATHER 



NANSEN'S ANCESTR V AND CHILDHOOD 



17 



and straightforward, without any pretension on the score 
of birth and ancestry. She had a mascuHne will. It was 
greatly against the wishes of her strict and aristocratic 
father that she married a baker's son for her first hus- 
band. However, she carried her point, and her mother 
appears to have sided with her in this affair of the heart. 
The parents were not at the marriage, although they had 
given their consent. 

As a young girl she had defied opinion and cultivated 
that sport which her son was afterwards to render world- 
famous. She was devoted to snow-shoeing, which was at 
that time thought unwomanly and even improper. As a 
housewife she was one of those who know every nook 
and corner of the house 
from attic to cellar — ac- 
tive, managing, ready 
with her hands and not 
afraid of the coarsest 
work. If the servant had 
blistered her fingers, the 
lady of the house would 
herself take hold and 
wring out the wet linen. 
She worked in the gar- 
den, and she made her 
boys' clothes. They had 
no other tailor until they 
were eighteen years old. 

Nevertheless, she found time to acquire the knowledge 
she had not stored up in early youth. Her will power 
and love of activity, her intrepidity, her practicaland reso- 
lute nature, have descended to her son. 




NANSEN S MOTHER 



i8 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD - 

I 

Mr. and Mrs. Nansen, after their marriage, settled 

down upon a small property belonging to her at Great 
Froen in West Aker. Here Fridtjof was born on October 
lo, 1861. 

In the choice of his birthplace, his lucky star, as we 
have said before, had ordered things for the best. Here 
was country life, here were cows and horses, geese and 
hens, hills for snow-shoeing on every side, great forests 
close at hand, and, only some two miles and a half away, 
an excellent school, one of the best in Christiania. 
These two miles and a half were reckoned , a mere 
nothing in the Nansen household. First to school in the 
morning, and back again, then, on summer afternoons, 
down to the fortress to learn to swim — that makes a 
good ten miles of a hot summer's day, to say nothing of 
minor wanderings. And there were invariably fights by 
the way — systematic training, be it observed, from the 
very first. 

Froen farmyard was the scene of the boy's earliest 
expeditions, and it was not Arctic cold, buL ^^' U li. 
that first imperilled his life. One day when he was three 
years old, and still in frocks, he stood hammering away at 
a wheelbarrow, no doubt trying to mend it, when, to the 
consternation of those in the kitchen, a column of smoke 
was seen to be rising from his person. " He 's on fire ! " 
was the cry. Out rushed the housekeeper, and tore his 
clothes off his back. In the course of his wanderings, he 
had visited the brew-house, where some sparks from the 
fire had lodged in his petticoats ; and behold ! he was 
within an ace of being burnt to death in blissful uncon- 
sciousness that anything was amiss. 

The Frogner River flowed right past the front door at 



NANSEI^'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 



19 




GREAT FROEN — THE DWELLING-HOUSE 



Froen, and here Fridtjof and his younger brother would 
bathe in the fresh of the evening, in the coldest pool they 
could find. Indeed, the younger of the two would some- 
times nearly perish with the cold, so that after coming out 
of the water he had to be dragged about at a brisk trot, in 
the costume which preceded all fashions and modes of 
dress, in order to keep life and warmth in his body. 

Into this same river they fell through the ice in the 
winter, and when their mother appeared on the scene she 
found Fridtjof in the act of fishing his brother out. And 
it was in the Frogner River that Fridtjof himself came 
near losing his life. 

But it also presented a peaceful means of livelihood. 



20 NANSEJY IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

They selected from among the pea-sticks those made of 
juniper, rolled their trousers well up, and went digging 

among the decayed leaves in 
the garden for bait, which 
they stored in the turned-up 
portion of their breeches. 
Then they went and fished 
for trout or minnows. Now 
and then the hook would go 
astray and stick fast in Fridt- 
jof's under lip ; whereupon 
Mrs. Nansen would have re- 
course to father's razor, make 
a resolute incision and extract 
the foreign body. No fuss or 
pother on either side. Not 
so much as a sound. 

Here at Froen he first ran 
his head against the ice — 
the rough ice , in the yard. 
When the little five-year-old rushed into the kitchen, there 
was scarcely a white spot left on his face, for the blood 
that trickled down it. He would not shed a tear, and was 
only afraid of being scolded. But from that day to this 
he wears his first ice-medal in the shape of a scar. 

They hunted squirrels with dog and bow. " Storm," the 
dog, would chase the squirrels up trees, where the little 
creatures found a tolerably secure asylum ; for the arrows 
never hit them. Finally, Fridtjof, inspired by Indian tales, 
hit upon a devilish device which he thought must prove 
fatal. He anointed the arrow-head with the juice of a 
poisonous mushroom, so that a wound from it meant 



1 




NANSEN AS A CHILD 



NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 



certain death. But the arrows somehow did no more ex- 
ecution, although he also tipped them with melted lead 
to make them carry better. 

After that he took to a new variety of weapon — 
cannons. He stuffed them to the muzzle with powder, 
but could not get it to ignite. Then he made a maroon, 
and poked it about so much that it exploded in his face. 
The cannon ultimately burst ; and it was again his 
mother's task to take him aside and pick out the powder 
grain by grain. 

He himself tells the story of his first snow-shoes, and 
his first great leap : — 

" I am not speaking of the very first pair of all — they 
were precious poor ones, cut 
down from cast-off snow- 
shoes which had belonged 
to my brothers and sisters. 
They were not even of the 
same length. But Mr. Fabri- 
tius, the printer, took pity 
upon me ; ' I '11 give you a 
pair of snow-shoes,' he said. 
Then spring came and then 
summer, and with the best will 
in the world one could n't 
go snow-shoeing. But Fa- 
britius's promise sang in my 
ears, and no sooner had the 
autumn come and the fields 

begun to whiten with hoar-frost of a morning, than I 
placed myself right in his way, where I knew he would 
come driving by. 




NANSEN AS A BOY 



2 2 HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" ' I say ! What about those snow-shoes ? ' 
" ' You shall have them right enough,' he said, and 
laughed. But I returned to the charge day after day: 
' What about those snow-shoes ? ' 

" Then came winter. I can still see my sister standing " 
in the middle of the room with a long, long parcel which 
she said was for me. I thought she said, too, it was from 
Paris. But that was a mistake, for it was the snow-shoes 
from Fabritius — a pair of red-lacquered ash snow-shoes 
with black stripes. And there was a long staff too, with 
shining blue-lacquered shaft and knob. I used these 
snow-shoes for ten years. It was on them I made my 
first big jump on Huseby Hill, where at that time the 
great snow-shoe races were held. We boys were not 
allowed to go there. We might range all the other hills 
round about, but the Huseby Hill was forbidden. But 
we could see it from Froen, and it lured us day after day 
till we could n't resist it any longer. At first I started 
from the middle of the hill, like most of the other boys, 
and all went well. But presently I saw there were one 
or two who started from the top ; so of course I had 
to try it. Off I set, came at frantic speed to the jump, 
sailed for what seemed a long time in space, and ran 
my snow-shoes deep into a snow-drift. We did n't have 
our shoes fastened on in those days, so they remained 
sticking in the drift, while I, head first, described a fine 
arc in the air. I had such way on, too, that when I 
came down again I bored into the snow up to my waist. 
There was a moment's hush on the hill. The boys 
thought I had broken my neck. But as soon as they 
saw there was life in me, and that I was beginning to 
scramble out, a shout of mocking laughter went up ; an 



NANSEN'S ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 23 

endless roar of derision over the entire hill from top to 
bottom. 

" After that, I took part in the Huseby Hill races and 
won a prize. But I did n't take it home ; for I was put 
to shame on that occasion as well. It was the first time 
I had seen the Telemark peasants snow-shoeing, and I 
recognized at a glance that I was n't to be mentioned 
in the same breath with them. They used no staff ; they 
simply went ahead and made the leap without trusting to 
anything but the strength of their muscles and the firm, 
lithe carriage of their bodies. I saw that this was the 
only proper way. Until I had mastered it, I would n't 
have any prize." 

He was a terrible one for falling into brown studies. 
Between putting on the first and the second stocking of 
a morning, there was always a prolonged interval. Then 
his brothers and sisters would call out, " There 's the 
duffer at it again ! You '11 never come to any good, 
you 're such a dawdler." 

He was always bent on getting to the bottom of every- 
thing. He asked so many questions, says one of his older 
friends, that it made one absolutely ill. " Many a time 
have I given him a thundering scolding for this everlast- 
ing ' Why } — Why } — Why ? ' " The arrival of a sewing- 
machine at Froen naturally aroused the demon of curios- 
ity in all his virulence. He must find out what kind of 
animal this was. So he took it all to pieces, and when 
his mother came back from town, the machine was the 
most disjointed puzzle imaginable. If tradition is to be 
trusted, however, he did not give in until he had put it all 
together again. 



CHAPTER II 



YOUTH 



If, weary of the soft grace of the Christiania Valley, 
one turns and gazes northward from the tower on T ry- 
vand Height, one is confronted, as far as eye can see, 
with blue-black forests — forests and nothing but forests, 
ridge behind ridge, on and on to the farthest verge of 
the horizon. 

This is Nordmarken, an unbroken stretch of Nor- 
wegian woodland, many square miles in extent, a lonely 
world of narrow valleys, abrupt heights, secluded glassy 
lakes, and foaming rivers. 

Into this solitude no murmur from the busy capital 
ever penetrates, not even the sound of a panting engine 
or the warning whistle of a steamboat cautiously thread- 
ing the intricacies of the fjord in the dense sea-fog. 

At the frontier of Nordmarken the comforts of civiliza- 
tion instantaneously stop short. When you have said 
good-bye to the great hotels on the slopes of the Frogner 
Saeter, and plunged into these interminable forests, you 
may wander for days without coming across anything 
remotely resembling an hotel. 

Yes, here all is peaceful and still — breathlessly still — 
when summer spreads her light veil over the glassy lakes 
and dark green leas, when the black-grouse drowses in 
the heather, and even the thrush in the pine-tops hushes 
his song. 



I* 



NANSEN'S YOUTH 



25 



There is breathless stillness, too, of a clear autumn 
evening when the birch sees its yellow silk, and the aspen 
its gorgeous scarlet, reflected in the black mirror of the 
lake, framed in the delicate pale red of the heather. 

Again there is breathless stillness — perhaps even more 
complete — during the long night of winter, when the 
stars glitter over the snow-laden forest and the white- 
frozen surface of the lake, and no sound is heard save the 
soft trickle of the ice-bound river. 

In the shooting and fishing season it is no longer the 
Great Pan who reigns. Fishing-rods by the score hang 
over the river like a bending wood, and the guns of the 
city sportsmen keep up a continual popping and banging 
in a spirit of noisy competition. Even the boundless 
abundance of fish and game is thus on the decline. 
Waterworks have interfered with the spawning, dam after 
dam bars the fishes' way up stream, and the river bed lies 
dry for weeks together. 

It was not so twenty years ago, in Fridtjof Nansen's 
boyhood. He was among the few, the pioneers, the elect. 
That Robinson Crusoe existence which less favored boys 
must be content to live in imaorination was vouchsafed to 
him in its glorious reality. Of his first expedition to the 
borders of that Promised Land he has himself written as 
follows : — 

" I showed no great intrepidity on my first voyage of 
discovery, although it went no farther than to Sorkedal. 

" I was somewhere about ten or eleven at the time, and 
up in Sorkedal lived several boys who were friends of 
mine, and who had asked my brothers and myself to come 
and see them. One afternoon in June, as we were sitting 
out on the steps, it came over us all of a sudden that we 



26 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

really ought to act upon this invitation. We had a notion 
that we ought to ask our parents' leave, and an equally 
clear notion that we should n't get it if we did. Father 
and mother were taking a siesta; we dared not disturb 
them, and if we waited till they awakened it would be too 
late to go. So we took French leave and slipped off. \ 
The first part of the way was familiar to us. We knew 
where Engeland lay, and made our way to Bogstad with- 
out much hesitation. After that we were rather at sea ; 
but we asked our way from point to point, first to the 
Sorkedal church, and after that to the farm where the 
boys lived. By the time we got there it was seven o'clock 
in the evening. Then we had to play with our friends 
and go and see the barn, and afterwards to do a little fish- 
ing. But it was n't any real fun. Our consciences were , 
so bad that we had no peace for so much as half an hour, t 
Then the time came for us to go home, and our hearts 
sank so dreadfully that the way back seemed ever so much 
wearier than the way out. The youngest soon became 
footsore, and it was a melancholy procession that slowly 
dragged itself towards Froen farm at eleven o'clock that 
night. We saw from a long way off that people were 
afoot ; no doubt they had been searching for us. We felt 
anything but fearless. As we turned the corner, mother 
came towards us. ' Is that you, boys.^*' 'Now we're in for 
it! ' we thought. ' Where have you been } ' mother asked. 

" Well, we had been to Sorkedal. Now for it ! But 
mother only said in an odd way : ' You are strange boys ! ' 
And she had tears in her eyes. 

" Fancy, not the least bit of a scolding ! Fancy getting 
to bed with our blistered feet, and without the least bit of 
a scolding ! 



^KKr- NANSEN'S YOUTH 27 

" And the most extraordinary part of it was that a few 
days later we were allowed to go again to Sbrkedal. 
Could it be that father and mother had come to think 
that they had been a little too strict with us ? 

" While I was in my teens, I used to pass weeks at a 
time alone in the forest. I disliked having any equipment 
for my expeditions. I managed with a crust of bread and 
broiled my fish on the embers. I loved to live like Rob- 
inson Crusoe up there in the wilderness." 

But frequently Nansen was accompanied by his brother 
and an older member of the family, who happened to be 
an enthusiastic huntsman and fisherman. And in this 
way, from the age of twelve upwards, the boys trained 
themselves to bear those fatigues which are the best thing 
in the world for hardening the muscles. The tramp 
became longer and longer, they pushed on farther and 
farther afield, as they grew older ; first to Sorkedal — then 
to Langli River — then Svarten (the Black Lake) — San- 
duno[en — Katnosa. 

The woods of Nordmarken offered plenty of long runs 
for a " ski-runner " who preferred to go his own way. It 
was here that a feeling for nature was fostered in him — a 
sense of the beauty of winter and summer, and of shifting 
atmospheric moods which do not as a rule appeal to boys. 
Here his tissues were hardened to face the Polar winters, 
while he stood in the crackling frost waiting for the hare, 
and envying him his warm white fur. It was hereabouts 
(at Fyllingen) that he was once hare-hunting' with his 
brother for thirteen days on end. At the last they had 
nothing to live on but potato cakes, and were half starved, 
both they and their dog. Then came killing-day at the 
farm, and the brothers consumed black-puddings till they 



28 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

nearly burst. When the tmie came to go home, Fridtjof 
had to shoulder seven hares, slung by the legs. He 
slipped, fell forwards, and all the hares shot out like the 
rays of a halo round his head. 

There was one thing that used to annoy his snow- 
shoeing cronies in those days, and that was his total care- 
lessness as to creature comforts. If he happened to 
look from the tower on Tryvand's Height away over to 
Stubdal, twenty miles off, a whim would all of a sudden 
seize him, and nothing would serve but he must set off 
without taking a crumb of food with him. He on one 
occasion descended upon a farm in Stubdal so ravenously 
hungry that the people did not forget his visit for many 
a day. 

Another time he and a party of his friends set off on a 
long snow-shoeing expedition, each with his provision wal- 
let on his back — each one, that is to say, except Fridtjof 
Nansen. But when they got to the first resting-place he 
unbuttoned his jacket and took out of his breast pocket 
— concealed deep within the lining — several pancakes, 
which were as ..(■: after the snow-shoeing as if they had 
just come oii the ^ i:. He held them up sr..!;.ing: 
" Have a pancake, any of you fellows } " None of them 
were dainty, but the pancakes seemed even less so, and 
they declined with thanks. " Well," he said, " the more 
fools you, for let me tell you there 's jam in them ! " It 
is in such traits that he shows his kinship with the deni- 
zens of the great forests. He has the recklessness of the 
hunter and the lumberman, their daring and headlong 
spirits. He is a typical east-country boy. But at the 
same time there is systematic intention in the training to 
which he subjects himself; his alert ambition reinforces 



NANSEN'S YOUTH 29 

his delight in unvarnished nature, and his tendency to 
set at defiance the customs of civiHzation. " The least 
possible " is early his ideal, and he has not the slightest 
objection to shocking public opinion in acting up to his 
principles. It never occurs to him to doubt that it is he 
who is right and the world that is wrong. He appears to 
have been one of the first consistent disciples of Jaeger 
in Christiania, and later on, in his letters from Bergen, he 
boasts that now the wool theory is admitted on all hands. 
He quotes in this connection one of his favorite sayings : 
" There was a man in a madhouse in London, who used 
to say : ' I said the world was crazy, but the world said 
that I was crazy, and so they put me here.' " 

One thing his friends had to guard against : they must 
never say to him that anything was impossible, for that 
was inevitably the signal for him to attempt it. His boy- 
ish impetuosity brought him on one occasion to death's 
door — to the very verge of one of those leaps which 
even the most expert athlete cannot clear. 

It was in 1878. On a walking tour with his brother 
Alexander, he came to Gjendin in the Jotunheim, and 
must needs climb the Svartdal Peak. There was a way 
round the back of the mountain which was more or less 
practicable, but Fridtjof would have none of that ; he must 
of course go straight up the precipitous black face of the 
hill. " As we got up towards the peak," his brother relates, 
" there was a snow-field which we had to cross. Beyond 
the snow-field lay the precipice, straight down into the 
valley. I had already had several attacks of giddiness, so 
that Fridtjof had given me his alpenstock, and was with- 
out it w^hen it came to crossing the glacier. Instead of 
going carefully step by step, as he would do now, he goes 



30 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

at it with a rush, shps, and begins to sUde down. I can 
see him turn pale. A few seconds more, and he will lie 
crushed to death in the valley. He digs his heels and 
nails into the ice, and brings himself to a standstill in the 
nick of time. That moment I shall never forget. Nor 
shall I forget his coming down to the tourist chalet and 
disappearing into the trousers which the burly secretary 
of the Tourist Club, N. G. Dietrichson, had to lend him, 
an essential part of his own having yielded to the friction 
of the glacier." 

The same year in which Fridtjof Nansen was in the 
Jotunheim, he had his first experience of ptarmigan shoot- 
ing in the mountains,- — Norefjeld and thereabouts, — and 
it was then they went on a tramp so exhausting that one 
of his brothers fell asleep far up on the heights, and had 
to be hauled along with the greatest difificulty. It was 
probably these early hunting expeditions through the for- 
est and over the mountain plateaux that gave him his taste 
for the accurate observation of animal life, and thus sup- 
plied the initial impulse towards the line of study which 
he finally chose. In the year 1880 he matriculated with 
sufficient credit to prove that his distractions during 
schooltime had not been so absorbing as to prevent him 
from settling down to work when the moment arrived. 
He got a first class in all natural science subjects, mathe- 
matics, and history; and when in December, 1 881, he went 
up for his second examination, he was classed as laudabilis 
prcB ceteris. He appears about this time to have been in 
some uncertainty as to his choice of a career. He was 
entered as a cadet at the military academy, but the nomi- 
nation was cancelled when he finally resolved to continue 



NANSEN'S YOUTH 31 

his scientific studies. He never contemplated going into 
the medical profession, but had at one time an idea of 
taking the first part of the medical examination. It ended, 
however, in his choosing a special branch, Zoology. As 
early as January, 1882, he applies to Professor Collett for 
advice. The Professor happens to remember how he him- 
self has been urged by Arctic seamen to go with them 
and prosecute his studies during a sealing expedition. 
This ought to be the very thing for Nansen. He is an 
expert sportsman and a good shot — why should he not 
go to the Arctic regions on board a sealing vessel, make 
his observations, keep a record, and train himself for de- 
scriptive zoological research } Nansen came to see him, 
and he made the suggestion, which took hold of the young 
man at once. A week later he again called on the Pro- 
fessor, having in the mean time spoken to Captain Kref- 
ting of the sealer Viking, and arranged matters with him. 
On January 23, Nansen's father telegraphed to an old 
friend in Arendal asking him to secure the ship-owners' 
sanction. The friend was able, when called upon, to de- 
clare that Fridtjof Nansen was a sturdy, strapping fellow, 
ready with his hands, and capable of great endurance, so 
that, to the best of the witness's belief, he would prove a 
useful and desirable member of the expedition. Permis- 
sion was instantly wired back, and Nansen, having em- 
ployed the brief interval at the university in studying the 
anatomy of the seal, sailed from the port of Arendal on 
board the Viking on Saturday, March 11. 

The cruise lasted five months ; during which Nansen 
shot about five hundred large seals, and fourteen Polar 
bears. The Viking got fast in the ice off the east coast 
of Greenland, and it was there that the idea occurred to 



32 



NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



Nansen that it would be practicable to land on the coast 
and cross the inland ice. 

We have Fridtjof Nansen's own word for it that these 
weeks off the east coast of Greenland exercised a deter- 
mining influence over him. " By day the peaks and the 
glaciers lay glittering beyond the drift ice ; in the evening 
and at night, when the sun tinged them with color and 




IN THE POLAR SEA 



set air and clouds on fire behind them, their wild beauty 
was thrown into even bolder relief." 

He brooded incessantly over plans for reaching that 
coast which so many have sought in vain. It must be 
possible, he thought, to make your way over the ice, drag- 
ging your boat along with you. He wanted to set off 
alone and walk ashore, but permission was refused him. 
Already he had begun to entertain notions of penetrating 



HANSEN'S YOUTH 33 

to the heart of the country; and within a year of his 
return to Norway the idea of crossing Greenland on 
snow-shoes had taken firm root in his mind. 

While Fridtjof Nansen was swimming across the rifts 
in the ice after Polar bears, the Director-in-Chief of the 
Bergen Museum, Dr. Danielssen, was turning things over 
in his mind. He needed a new assistant. Before the 
bear-hunter had reached Christiania, Professor Robert 
Collett was applied to by telegraph for his advice. He 
thought instantly of Nansen, and asked him, the moment 
he set foot on shore, if he would care to become Curator 
{Konservator) of the Bergen Museum. He agreed at once. 
He was not yet twenty-one, and had done nothing what- 
ever to make his mark in science ; so it was certainly a 
very tempting offer. He held the position of Curator of 
the Bergen Museum till 1888, during which time he was 
engaged in carrying on zoological investigations. 

Few things are more characteristic of Nansen than the 
way in which he passed from Polar bear-hunting to the 
work-room of the Bergen Museum. " I have become an 
absolute first-class stick-in-the-mud," he says in a letter to 
his father as early as October 17, 1882. He, the athlete 
and sportsman par excellence^ has to " reassure " his father 
by informing him that he is a member of two gymnastic 
societies ! He throws himself into his scientific work as 
passionately as if it were the most thrilling of adventures. 
He pursues the paltriest insect revealed by the micro- 
scope no less impetuously than he pursued the bears 
over the Arctic wastes. In the course of his studies of the 
nervous system, Nansen became acquainted with the chro- 
mic silver method of staining the nerve fibres invented 
by Professor Golgi of Pavia. 
3 



34 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

In order thoroughly to famiharize himself with this im- 
portant auxiliary to the investigations which had now oc- 
cupied him for several years, he determined, in the spring 
of 1886, to go to Italy. Partly under Golgi's personal 
guidance, and partly at the Zoological Station in Naples, 
where he would find ample material, he hoped to be able 
to carry his researches somewhat farther than had been 
possible with the methods hitherto in vogue. The previ- 
ous year, at the Bergen Museum, he had won the Joachim 
Friele gold medal for his work on the myzostoma. He 
had taken the medal in copper, and applied the value of 
the gold to his travelling expenses. 

After a short stay in Pavia, where he conferred with 
Professor Golgi and Dr. Fusari, he went on to Naples, 
where he spent the following months, from April till June, 
1886, at the celebrated Zoological Station. 

The principal results of his studies he embodied in sev- 
eral biological works ; for " The Structure and Combina- 
tion of the Histological Elements of the Central Nervous 
System " Nansen received his doctor's degree. 

By the great public, Fridtjof Nansen is known and ad- 
mired chiefly as the dauntless explorer of the unknown 
wastes of the North Pole. The above may help to im- 
press upon the public, that Nansen is also an investigator 
of note in another domain, which, though it does not 
attract so much attention, perhaps deserves it no less. 

Voyages of discovery in the quiet study, in the labora- 
tory, in the world of the microscope, in Nature's secret 
workshop, — these too minister to the enlightenment of 
mankind and the progress of civilization. In this field 
Fridtjof Nansen proved himself a born discoverer, and, at 
an unusually early age, developed an activity which was 
rich in promise. 



CHAPTER III 

NANSEn's GREENLAND EXPEDITION PREPARATIONS PLAN 

EQUIPMENT 

" One winter evening in 'Sy,'' writes Dr. Grieg, " I sat 
in my den at 3A Parkveien, absorbed in my work. Sud- 
denly the door was flung wide open, and in stalked 
Nansen, with his long-haired, badly trained dog Jenny. 
Without pretending to be an authority on the subject, 
it is my opinion that Nansen is too absent-minded to be 
able to train good sporting dogs. The evening was cold, 
so that even Nansen had thrown his plaid over his shoul- 
ders. He sat down on the sofa just opposite me. 

" ' Do you know what I 'm going to set about now ? ' 
he said. ' I mean to have a try at crossing Greenland.' 
And he set forth his plans with the aid of my old atlas, 
which I shall always associate with the memory of that 
evening. He was excited and wrought-up, and, at that 
stage, far from being certain, or even hopeful, of finding 
things go easily. I saw he wanted objections to discuss, 
and I supplied him with what occurred to me, though I 
knew nothing of the subject. ' It would be easiest to 
make the crossing lower down, you understand,' he said, 
' but the real thing will be to show the world that Green- 
land can be crossed so far north as this ' and he 

pointed out where he had at first planned to start. He 
little dreamed that this stretch of coast, which he treated 
so lightly that evening, would prove so hard a nut to 



36 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

crack. He said he was going to Stockholm. ' What 
are you going to do there } ' ' To look up Nordenskjold, 
and ask him to give me his opinion of my scheme. I 
shall just wait to take my doctor's degree in the spring, 
and then off to Greenland. It will be a hard spring, old 
man, but pooh ! I shall manage it.' 

" Another friend had meanwhile dropped in. We all 
three walked to Skarpsno, we two every-day people mak- 
ing feeble objections, he meeting them with increasing 
warmth and with youthful emphasis of conviction. He 
would stake his life on the plan, and we should see it 
would all go smoothly. It was like a revelation, in these 
decadent days, to find a man of action ready to lay down 
his life for his idea. I was impressed and moved that 
evening when we parted." 

He went to Stockholm. It may be noted at this point 
that it was in 1886 that Peary and Maigaard, with their 
scanty equipment, had made a highly successful inroad 
upon the Greenland ice field, intended, as Peary had 
expressly stated in his brief narrative, merely as a prelim- 
inary reconnaissance. Nansen had no time to lose if he 
did not want to be anticipated. Moreover, his zoological 
and anatomical labors were in the mean time at a stand- 
still. His great essay on the histological elements of tlie 
central nervous system was finished, and could at any 
time be handed in as a thesis for his doctor's degree. 

"When, on Thursday, November 3, 1887, I entered my 
work-room, in the Mineralogical Institute of the Stock- 
holm High School," says Professor Brogger, "my janitor 
told me that there had been a Norwegian asking for 
me. He had not left a card, and did not say who he was. 
Compatriots without a name and without a visiting-card 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 37 

were no rarity. It was no doubt some one wanting me 
to relieve him from a momentary embarrassment' ' What 
did he look like ? ' I said, with a touch of annoyance. 

" ' Tall and fair,' answered Andersson. 

" ' Was he well dressed } ' 

" ' He had n't any overcoat,' said Andersson, smiling 
confidentially ; ' he looked like a sailor, or something of 
that sort.' 

" Ah, yes — a sailor without an overcoat ! No doubt 
the idea was that I should supply him with one. I saw 
it all. 

" An hour or two later in came Wille. ' Have you seen 
Nansen ? ' 

" ' Nansen } Was that the name of the sailor ? The 
man without an overcoat 1 ' 

" ' Has he no overcoat .? At any rate he 's going to 
cross the Greenland ice sheet.' And Wille rushed off — 
he was in a hurry. 

" After that comes another of my colleagues. Professor 
Lecke, the zoologist. ' Have you seen Nansen } Is n't 
he a splendid fellow ? He has been telling me of many 
interesting discoveries about the sex of the myxine — 
and about his investigations of the nervous system too. 
Charming things ! Splendid ! ' 

" After all these preliminaries, Nansen at last appeared 
in person — tall and erect, broad-shouldered and powerful, 
yet with the grace and suppleness of youth. His rather 
rough hair was brushed back from his massive forehead. 
He came straight up to me and gave me his hand with a 
peculiarly winning smile, while he introduced himself. 

" ' You are going to cross Greenland t ' 

" ' Well, I 'm thinking of it.' 



38 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" I looked him in the eyes. There he stood with the 
kindly smile on his strongly-cut, massive face, his com- 
plete self-confidence awakening confidence in others. 
Although his manner was just the same all the time, — 
calm, straightforward, perhaps even a little awkward, — 
yet it seemed as if he grew with every word. This' plan, 
— this snow-shoe expedition from the east coast, — which 
a moment ago I had regarded as an utterly crazy idea, 
became, in the course of that one conversation, the most 
natural thing in the world. The conviction^possessed me 
all of a sudden : he will do this thing, as surely as we are 
sitting here and talking about it. 

" This man whose name I had never so much as heard 
until a couple of hours before, had in these few minutes — 
quite naturally and inevitably as it seemed — made me 
feel as though I had known him all my days ; and with- 
out reflecting at all as to how it happened, I knew that I 
should be proud and happy to be his friend through life. 

" ' We '11 go straight to Nordenskjold,' I said ; and we 
went. With his singular dress — a tight-fitting, dark blue, 
jersey-like blouse or jacket, closely buttoned up — he did 
not fail to attract a certain amount of attention in Drott- 
ninggatan (Queen Street). Gustaf Retzius, as I heard 
afterwards, took him at first for an acrobat or rope- 
dancer. 

" Well, we hunted up Nordenskjold, crossing the quiet, 
cloistral quadrangle of the Academy of Science, which 
has always something awe-inspiring about it. 

" Nordenskjold was in his laboratory, as usual at that 
time in the morning. We went through the anterooms 
filled with mineralogical specimens and cases. ' These 
used to be Berzelius's quarters,' I remarked to Nansen in 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 39 

passing. Lindstrom, the Professor's assistant, presently 
appeared, with both hands full of retorts and chemicals. 

" ' The old man is inside ; he 's up to his eyes in work,' 
he whispered quietly to me. 

" There, in the work-room, ' old man Nor ' was wander- 
ing around among his minerals. I can never see his 
strong, broad back, without thinking of a story in connec- 
tion with his boat expedition up the Yenisei in 1875. At 
one point, where the seas repeatedly threatened to swamp 
the boat, Nordenskjold took his seat on the after gunwale, 
and let the ice-cold waves break on his broad back. 
There he sat for hours, doing duty, in a literal sense, as a 
breakwater. Of such stuff are Arctic explorers made. 

" I greeted Nordenskjold and performed the introduc- 
tion. ' Curator Nansen, of Bergen. He intends to cross 
the Greenland ice sheet ' 

" ' Good heavens ! ' 

" ' And he would like to consult you upon the matter.' 

'" I 'm delighted to see him. So ! Mr. Nansen intends 
to cross Greenland } ' 

" The bombshell had fallen. The friendly, amiable, but 
somewhat absent expression he had worn an instant be- 
fore had vanished, and his liveliest interest was aroused. 
He seemed to be scanning the young man from head to 
foot, in order to see what sort of stuff he had in him. 
Then he burst out with a twinkle in his eye : ' I shall 
make Mr. Nansen a present of a pair of excellent boots ! 
Indeed, I 'm not joking ; it 's a very important and serious 
matter to have your foot-gear of the best quality.' 

" The ice is broken. Nansen expounds, Nordenskjold 
nods a little skeptically now and then, and throws in a 
question or two. He no doubt regarded the plan — at 



40 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

least so it seemed to me — as foolhardy, but not absolutely 
impracticable. It was obvious that Nansen's personality 
had instantly made a strong impression on him. He was 
at once prepared, in the most cordial manner, to place the 
results of his own experience at the young man's service. 

" There were of course numbers of details to be gone 
into: the Laplanders, snow-shoes, sledges, and boats — 
and then the question whether the drift ice could be 
crossed as Nansen had planned. But ' the old man was 
up to his eyes in work,' and it was agreed" that Nansen 
should come again. Meanwhile, we were to meet the 
same evening, at the Geological Society. As we were 
leaving I said aside to Nordenskjold, ' Well, what do you 
think ? I back him to do it' 

" ' I dare say you 're right,' answered Nordenskjold. 
But the skeptical expression was again to the fore. 

" After the meeting at the Geological Society, Nansen 
accompanied me home. It was pretty well on in the 
evening. While we were sitting talking, he genial and at 
his ease, I quite absorbed in all these new ideas, there 
came a ring at the door, and in walked Nordenskjold. I 
at once saw that he was seriously interested. 

" We sat there till the small hours, discussing Arctic 
and Antarctic explorations in general, and the Greenland 
expedition in particular. It was only four years since 
Nordenskjold himself had made his last expedition on the 
Greenland ice sheet; and he was at this time, if I remem- 
ber rightly, much interested in arranging a combined 
Australian-Swedish Antarctic expedition, in which his 
promising son, G. Nordenskjold,^ who unfortunately died 
so early, was to have taken part. 

1 Three years later this young man undertook an expedition to Spitzbergen. 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 41 

" I was going the next day to the usual Fourth of 
November banquet at the house of the Norwegian Secre- 
tary of State, and I asked Nansen if he would care to 
have an invitation. No, he could n't well appear on such 
an occasion — he had only the clothes he was wearing. 

" ' But Mr. Nansen can come and dine with me, just as 
he is,' suggested Nordenskjbld with frank cordiality ; and 
so it was arranged. 

" I cannot say whether Nansen, when he returned to 
Christiania, a couple of days later, took with him the ' ex- 
cellent boots,' though I know that Nordenskjold after- 
wards sent him a pair of snow-spectacles. But, boots or 
no boots, he certainly took back with him many a valuable 
hint, and the assurance of complete sympathy on the part 
of the great explorer. When, nearly two years later, they 
again met in Stockholm, the foolhardy plan had been 
carried out, and the journey over the inland ice from coast 
to coast was an accomplished fact." 

Nansen's application to the " Collegium Academicum " 
for the means to carry out the expedition is dated Novem- 
ber II, 1887. The very first sentence goes straight to 
the heart of the matter: "It is my intention next sum- 
mer to undertake a journey across the inland ice of 
Greenland from the east to the west coast." The amount 
he asked for was 5,000 crowns (less than 300/.). It is so 
infinitesimally small in comparison with the magnitude 
and importance of the undertaking, that one cannot speak 
of it now without a smile. But as yet the project, was 
only a project, and the projector an untried man. The 
faculty and the council warmly recommended the scheme 
to the Government. But the Government could not see 



42 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

its way to sanctioning it. One of the official organs was 
unable to discover any reason why the Norwegian people 
should pay so large a sum as 300/. in order that a private 
individual might treat himself to a pleasure-trip to Green- 
land. And undoubtedly the Government here repre- 
sented a very large section of the people. Two widely 
different sides of the Norwegian character were in this 
case at odds. The love of adventure is represented in 
Nansen, the cautiousness, the " canniness," of the Norwe- 
gian peasant is represented in the Government. It is no 
mere chance that this 300/. should have come from jj 
abroad. For except in scientific circles, and among the 
young and ardent, the general opinion certainly was that 
Nansen's undertaking was only worthy of a madman — 
though no one actually went so far as to have him locked 
up, like the man in the London madhouse whom Nansen 
is so fond of citing. A comic paper in Bergen inserted 
the following advertisement : — 

Notice. — In the month of June next, Curator Nansen will give a snow-shoe 
display, with long jumps, on the inland ice of Greenland. Reserved seats in 
the crevasses. Return ticket unnecessary. 

And in private conversation the affair was taken much 
in the same way, when it was not regarded from a more 
serious point of view, by people who thought it sinful to 
give open support to a suicide. 

Nor was it only the outside public that held these 
opinions. Previous explorers of Greenland, who might be 
supposed to know the local conditions, characterized the 
plan as absolutely visionary. Nansen has himself reprinted 
in his book a short extract from a lecture delivered in 
Copenhagen by one of the younger Danish explorers of 
Greenland. He says : " Among the few of us who know 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 43 

something of the nature of Danish East Greenland, there 
is no doubt that unless the ship reaches the coast and 
waits for him till he is forced to confess himself beaten, it 
is ten to one that either Nansen will throw away his own 
life, and perhaps the lives of others, to no purpose ; or 
else he will be picked up by the Eskimos, and convoyed 
by them round Cape Farewell to the Danish stations on 
the west coast. But no one has any right needlessly to 
involve the East Greenlanders in a long journey, which 
must be in many respects injurious to them." 

It was, however, from Denmark that the requisite finan- 
cial assistance came. Professor Amund Helland, who had 
himself been in Greenland, had strongly advocated the 
plan in the " Dagblad " of November 24, 1887. "After 
the experiences of others on the inland ice," he says, " and 
after what I myself have seen of it, I cannot see why 
young and courageous snow-shoers, under an intelligent 
and cautious leader, should not have every prospect of 
reaching the other side, if only the equipment be care- 
fully adapted to the peculiar conditions. . . . All things 
carefully considered, I believe there is every likelihood 
that competent snow-shoers should be able to manage 
this journey without running any such extreme risks as 
should make the expedition inadvisable. Those who 
have travelled some distance on the inland ice of Green- 
land number, at present, about twenty men, and not a 
single life has been lost in these attempts." 

As a result of this article. Professor Helland was able 
to announce to the " Collegium Academicum," on Jan- 
uary 12, 1888, that Mr. Augustin Gamel, of Copenhagen, 
had offered to provide the 5,000 crowns. 

Nansen accepted the generous offer. Afterwards, when 



44 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

all was happily over, people criticised this action. He 
ought to have waited patiently till the money turned up 
somewhere in Norway. This wisdom after the event is 
foolish enough. It ignores the actual facts of the situ- 
ation. Nansen had made up his mind to pay for the 
whole enterprise out of his own pocket ; no one in Norway 
showed the slightest eagerness to prevent his doing so. 
And, with all his self-reliance, he could not, at that time, 
regard the realization of his idea as a privilege that must 
be reserved solely and exclusively for Norway. The situ- 
ation was quite different when, five years later, with the 
eyes of all the world upon him, he set out for the North 
Pole. Then, indeed, it was of the utmost importance that 
the money as well as the flag should be Norwegian. The 
criticism seems all the emptier when we remember that 
the Greenland Expedition did not cost 5,000 crowns, but 
more than three times that amount, and that Nansen him- 
self would have met this deficit out of his small private 
means, had not the Students' Society, after the successful 
return of the expedition, set on foot a subscription which 
brought in 10,000 crowns. 

It was, as Nansen had said to Dr. Grieg, a hard spring. 
The first six months of 1888 passed in one incessant 
rush. At the beginning of December, 1887, he is back in 
Bergen. At the end of January, he goes on snow-shoes 
from Eidfjord in Hardanger, by way of Numedal, to 
Kongsberg, and thence to Christiania. In March he is in 
Bergen again, lecturing on nature and life in Greenland. 
One day — or rather night — we find him camping on 
the top of Blaamanden, near Bergen, to test his sleeping- 
bag, and a week later he is on the rostrum in Chris- 
tiania giving his first trial lecture for his doctor's degree, 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 45 

on the structure of the sexual organs in the myxine. 
On April 28 he defends his doctoral thesis : " The Nerve 
Elements : their structure and connection in the central 
nervous system " — and on May 2 he sets off for Copen- 
hagen, on his way to Greenland. " I would rather take 
a bad degree than have a bad outfit," he used to say to 
Dr. Grieg in those days. He succeeded in getting both 
good, but only by straining every nerve. On the one 
hand, he had his scientific reputation to look to; on the 
other, his own life and the lives of five brave men ; for he 
was fully convinced that, of all the dangers which were 
pointed out to him, the most serious by far was the danger 
of a defective outfit. On the outfit, more than on any- 
thing else, depended victory or defeat, life or death. 

It was in the January number of the periodical " Natu- 
ren " (1888) that he for the first time made a public state- 
ment of his plan. He explains that, by striking inland 
from the east coast, he will need to cross Greenland only 
once. It is true that by this course retreat is cut off. 
" The inhospitable coast, inhabited only by scattered 
tribes of heathen Eskimos, is by no means an enviable 
winter residence to fall back upon in the event of our 
encountering unforeseen obstacles in the interior ; but the 
less tempting the line of retreat, the stronger will be the 
incentive to push on with all our might." This is one of 
the essential points of the plan — all bridges are to be 
broken. Here we see the irresistible self-confidence of 
genius — its triumphant faith in its power to reach the 
goal. The thing that presents itself to ordinary prudence 
as the first necessity, namely, a safe and easy line of re- 
treat, genius regards rather as a hindrance and a thing to 
be avoided. 



46 HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" Setzet Ihr nicht das Leben ein, 
Nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein." 

We will not here dwell upon the other features of the 
plan, because in all essentials it was carried 'out as pro- 
jected ; and the modifications which proved necessary are 
sufficiently well known through Nansen's own account of 
the expedition. It will be remembered how they were 
causht in the drift ice, carried down almost to the 
southern point of Greenland, and then had to fight their 
way laboriously north again. It will be remembered, too, 
that they did not strike inland, as they intended, north of 
Cape Dan, but a good way farther south, and that they 
reached the west coast, not, as contemplated, on Disco 
Bay near Christianshaab, but at the Ameralikfjord near 
Godthaab. These alterations are important enough in 
themselves, but inessential in relation to the main object. 
The plan itself having been set forth, the article proceeds 
to enumerate the scientific problems which may be solved 
or brought nearer to a solution by a journey across the 
inland ice. Nansen concludes by quoting Nordenskjold's 
words in the preface to his book, " The Second Dickson 
Expedition to Greenland : " " The investigation of the un- 
known interior of Greenland is fraught with such mo- 
mentous issues for science that at present one can hardly 
suggest a worthier task for the enterprise of the Arctic 
explorer." 

Nansen was himself fully conscious of the great scien- 
tific import of the journey he was about to take. 

For the rest, this expedition required in its leader a 
quite unusual combination of qualities : an adventurous 
imagination to conceive it, a Viking-like hardihood to 
carry it through, strenuous physical training throughout 



HANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 47 

childhood and youth to enable him to face its fatigues, 
and self-sacrificing devotion to science in order to make 
the most of the opportunities it afforded. And even more 
was required. This young man, whose fame as yet rested 
entirely upon an unfulfilled idea, had to take command of 
a little group of brave men who all risked their lives ex- 
actly as he did, and among whom were some who them- 
selves had held command. This was not a company of 
soldiers to be officered as a matter of course ; it required a 
special tact, a peculiar instinct, to bear one's self as primus 
inter pares. With all his proud self-confidence, Nansen 
had just this instinct. It springs in part, no doubt, from 
a strain of gentleness in his character, but may on the 
whole be regarded as simply another manifestation of his 
singular knack of doing the right thing at precisely the 
right moment. He had been too early intent on ends of 
his own to develop what one would call a specially social 
disposition. " He is something of a soloist," one of his 
friends wTites to us, " steadfast towards those to whom he 
really attaches himself ; but they are not many." He is 
too absorbed in his work. He is not expansive, in the 
sense of feeling any inborn craving to make friends. But 
now, in the moment of need, the unaffected geniality of 
his temperament comes out quite naturally in his relation 
to those who have had the courage and the insight to 
place their trust in him. Given another personality than 
his, the whole undertaking would not improbably have 
gone to wreck, with the most disastrous consequences. 
If it had been simply a question of mechanical discipline, 
the spirit of revolt might easily have arisen in the course 
of these indescribable hardships, and ruined everything. 
As it was, all were agreed that, though discussion should 



48 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

of course be free, one must have the decisive voice. But 
that one was of no higher rank than the others when 
there was work to be done or hunger to be endured ; and 
it was this complete equaHty that formed the strongest 
bond of union. Stories have been invented as to the rela- 
tions between the six Greenland explorers, some of them 
of a dark and almost tragic tenor. We are able to state 
on the best authority that all these, legends, from first to 
last, are the product of popular imagination, which, after 
the tremendous enthusiasm over Nansen's return, neces- 
sarily underwent a reaction. 

The men who accompanied Nansen were Captain Otto 
Neumann Sverdrup, born October 31, 1855, in Bindalen ; 
Lieutenant Oluf Christian Dietrichson, born May 31, 
1856, in Skogn, near Levanger ; Christian Christiansen 
Trana, born February 16, 1865, at the farm of Trana, near 
Stenkj^r ; besides the two Lapps, Samuel Johannesen 
Balto, aged 27, and Ola Nilsen Ravna, aged 45. All 
these names have become historical. To the two first- 
mentioned in particular a great share in the credit of the 
expedition is due. The whole civilized world is indebted 
to them, and Nansen most of all. " People are very 
ready," he says in the preface to " The First Crossing of 
Greenland," " to heap the whole blame of an unsuccessful 
expedition, but also the whole honor of a successful one, 
upon the shoulders of the leader. This is particularly 
unfair in the case of such an expedition as the present, 
where the result depends on absolutely no one falling 
short, on every one filling his place entirely and at every 
point." ^^ 

For the lives of all these men Nansen had now assumed 
the responsibility, so far as the planning and management 



HANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 49 

of the journey was concerned ; and his responsibility- 
began with the outfit. With regard to this essential mat- 
ter, all the qualities we have been dwelling upon would 
have been of no avail had he not possessed one other of 
the first importance. He was accustomed to see things 
for himself. He was an observer not only in the domain 
of science, but also in that of practical life. As a boy, he 
pulled the sewing-machine to pieces to see how it was 
made, and as a young man he had gone deeply into the 
question of the nutritive value of the various food-stuffs. 
He had an eminently practical and mechanical talent ; 
and he had been born with the instinct of the Youngest 
Son in the fairy tale, for picking up a magpie's wing 
whenever he came across it, since you never could tell 
when it might come in useful. No doubt he had learned 
much in his brief consultations with Nordenskjold, whose 
numerous expeditions had always been conspicuous for 
their careful and excellent equipment. But the expedition 
now in hand must be set about on an entirely original 
plan, since they were to have neither reindeer nor dogs, 
but were themselves to be their own beasts of burden and 
drag every crumb of food and every instrument. Now 
was the time to act up to the Nansen motto, " To require 
little." The thing was to ascertain what food-stuffs com- 
bine a maximum of nourishment with a minimum of 
weight ; and equally important was the consideration of 
the means of transport to be employed. The lightness 
of everything was the cardinal point which distinguished 
the Nansen expedition from all others. Lightness became 
a study, an art. Nansen brooded on the problem by day, 
and dreamed of it at night. Like Macbeth, he was 
haunted with visions of insubstantial tolleknivs (sheath 
knives). 



so NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Everything was minutely criticised, from the raw mate- 
rial up to the finished product. Many of the most impor- 
tant articles Nansen designed for himself. From his 
detailed description of the outfit we reproduce in a few 
words the essential points : Five specially constructed 
hand - sledges ,of ash, with broad steel - plated runners. 
These sledges were about 9 ft. 6 in. long by i ft. 8 in. 
broad, yet weighed, with the steel runners, only a little 
over 28 lbs. They were so excellently made that in spite 
of the tremendous wear and tear they werg subjected to 
not one of them broke. Next came Norwegian snow- 
shoes {ski) of the most careful make, as well as Canadian 
snow-shoes and Norwegian wickerwork truger. The last 
were used particularly in ascending the outer slope of 
the inland ice, and on wet snow where ski were useless. 
The tent was furnished by Lieutenant Ryder, of Copen- 
hagen. It was just large enough to accommodate the 
two sleeping-bags side by side upon the floor. The dress 
of the party consisted of a thin woollen vest and w^oollen 
drawers ; over the vest a thick Iceland jersey ; and for 
outer garments, jacket, knickerbockers and thick snow- 
socks on the legs, all made of Norwegian homespun. For 
windy and snowy weather they had an outer dress of thin 
sail-cloth. Their foot-gear consisted of boots with pitched 
seams and Lapland lauparsko, a sort of moccasin. On 
their heads they wore woollen caps and hoods of home- 
spun, woollen gloves on their hands, and in extreme cold 
an extra pair of dogskin gloves. For their eyes they had 
snow-spectacles, some of smoke-colored glass with baskets 
of steel-wire network, some of black wood with horizontal 
slits. 

The provisions consisted mainly of pemmican, meat- 



NAIVSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 51 

powder chocolate, calf-liver pate, a Swedish biscuit known 
as hiakkebrod, meat biscuits, butter, dried halibut, a little 
cheese, pea-soup powder, chocolate, and condensed milk. 
They took two double-barrelled guns for replenishing 
their larder. The cooking apparatus was a spirit-burning 
contrivance devised by Nansen and a chemist named 
Schmelck, upon which they expended much labor. No 
spirits for consumption ; some tea, a little coffee, a little 
tobacco. On the other hand, an abundance of scientific 
instruments. And, to complete the list, tarpaulins, which 
on the inland ice were sometimes used as sails ; bamboo 
poles ; and a quantity of tools and small necessaries of 
various kinds from matches and a few candles down to 
darning-needles — everything of course as light as pos- 
sible. 

In only one single respect did this equipment prove 
inadequate. The pemmican, which should have been the 
staple of their diet, had in the course of manufacture 
been deprived of all fat, and Nansen did not discover the 
fact until the last moment. The result was that they suf- 
fered after a while from " fat-hunger, of which no one who 
has not experienced it can form any idea." Even during 
the last days, when they had as much dried meat as they 
wanted, they did not feel satisfied. 

How easy it would have been in this terra incognita 
for the outfit to have fallen short in other respects ! For 
one thing, no one in the least foresaw that the expedition 
would, at this time of the year, be exposed to such severe 
cold as was found to prevail on the inland ice. It was a 
new and unknown meteorological phenomenon which the 
expedition encountered. If Nansen had chosen woollen 
sleeping-bags instead of those of reindeer-skin, which he 



52 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

at last determined on, he and his comrades, as he himself 
admits, would scarcely have reached the west coast alive. 

Yes, a great deal might have happened ; but luck was 
on Nansen's side. His good genius was very active in all 
that concerned this, his first great undertaking. But in 
the last analysis, no doubt, the man who has " the luck 
on his side " is he who shows capacity, foresight, genius, 1 
and does not pit himself against forces which are in the i 
nature of things unconquerable. | 

We cannot conclude these lines on the preparations for I 
the Greenland expedition without mentioning that Nan- 
sen was in constant communication with one of the most 
notable of the explorers of Greenland, Dr. H. Rink. One 
service that Rink certainly rendered him was to throw : 
into strong relief the perils of the expedition, although 
there were moments when the enfeebled and nervously 1 
conscientious old man reproached himself with not having 
dwelt on them sufficiently. " Rink at first regarded the 
plan," his wife writes to us, " as a mere romantic fancy. 
The more he pondered over it, and the more he became 
attached to the man who was to carry it out, the more 
perilous did it become in his eyes, until at last he blamed 
himself severely for not having, in the course of all their 
discussions, painted in strong enough colors the dangers 
to which he believed the expedition would be exposed. 
So, expressly on this account, we invited Nansen to pay 
us another visit. That evening we spent for the most 
part in looking at pictures of Greenland, in a quieter and 
more serious frame of mind, on the whole, than on pre- 
vious occasions, when there had been a vast amount of 
jesting over the chances (cannibalism not excepted) that 
might befall the expedition on the ice fields. On these 



NANSEN'S GREENLAND EXPEDITION 53 

occasions everybody used to laugh very heartily, except 
Rink. And I remember I had to bear all the blame of 
this unseemly conduct after the party broke up." 

In Rink's house, too, they used to take lessons in 
Eskimo, when time- permitted. Sverdrup tried it first ; 
but he could not get his tongue round the Greenland 
idiom. Dietrichson was good at it. " Curiously enough," 
writes Mrs. Rink, " I had pitched upon these two as the 
predestined spokesmen of the expedition, and did not 
offer to give Nansen any lessons. Whereupon he said, 
as though a little hurt : ' May n't I try too ? ' — and he 
went at it with the earnestness and perseverance that are 
such charming traits in his character. How remarkably 
he succeeded in picking up the language, the Eskimos 
themselves bear witness." 

The last evening Nansen was at Rink's house, Mrs.. 
Rink accompanied him to the door. " I said," she writes, 
" what had often occurred to me, ' You must go to the 
North Pole, too, some day.' He answered emphatically, 
as though he had long ago made up his mind on the 
point, ' I mean to.' " 



CHRISTIANSEN 




DIETRICHSON SVERDRUP 

THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENLAND EXPEDITION 



CHAPTER IV 



ACROSS GREENLAND 

On May 2, 1888, Nansen started from Christiania, by I 
way of Copenhagen and London, for Leith, where he 
was to meet the rest of the party, who had gone, with 
the whole outfit, from Christiansand direct to Scotland. 

From Scotland they proceeded to Iceland by the 
Danish steamer Thyra. Not until June 4 did they join 
the sealer Jason (Captain M. Jacobsen), which was to 
carry them over to the east coast of Greenland — under 
the express stipulation, however, that the vessel should 
not be hindered in its sealing operations for the sake of 
landing the party. 



I 



I 



n 



ACROSS GREENLAND ' 55 



On Monday, June 11, they had their first ghmpse of 
the east coast of Greenland, sighting the high rugged 
peaks north of Cape Dan at about the latitude where, in 
1883, Nordenskjbld had succeeded in getting through 
the drift ice with the Sophia. The ice belt between the 
vessel and the coast proved, however, to be still so wide 
(from nine to ten miles of rough ice) as to render any 
attempt to reach the land unadvisable for the present. 
They had to wait about a month for a favorable opportu- 
nity of leaving the Jason^ which was bound to remain in 
the region where the seal-hunting was likely to be good. 
Meanwhile, Nansen acted as " doctor " to the whole fleet 
of sealers, and had to possess his soul in patience until 
the sealing season was practically over. 

Finally, on the morning of July 17, the yason was so 
near land (about 2I miles from the coast near Sermi- 
likfjord, at 651° N. lat.) that Nansen determined to force 
a passage through the comparatively narrow belt of drift 
ice. 

The boat belonging to the expedition, and a smaller 
one which the captain of the Jason had placed at their 
disposal, were therefore lowered, the baggage packed and 
stowed in the boats, and every preparation promptly 
made. At 7 p. m. all was ready for a start. Nansen went 
up into the crow's-nest for a last survey of the course, 
and saw plainly, with the aid of the glass, a belt of open 
water between the drift ice and the shore. 

" We are taking to our boats with the firmest hope of 
a successful issue to our enterprise," Nansen wrote in a 
letter to the " Morgenblad " hastily scribbled at the last 
moment. 

It was soon apparent that their hopefulness was, at the 



56 NAA^SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

very outset, to be put to a severe test. After they had 
tried the whole night long, in storm and rain, to get 
through the drift ice opposite the mouth of the Sermilik- 
fjord, the ice became so packed by the current that, in 
the early morning, they had to drag their boats up on the 
floes. One of the boats was injured by the pressure of 
the ice, so that it had to be repaired in ' haste ; and 
during the short time lost in doing this they were caught 
in a strong o ^therly current, and swept seaward again 
at a great speed. At six o'clock on the ig^th they found 
that they were already twice as far from land as when 
they had left the ship. 

There was nothing for it but to drift southward with 
the ice until an opportunity should offer of getting in 
under the land again. 

For ten days the expedition drifted along the east coast 
of Greenland as far down as the island of Kudtlek, 6i° 
40' N. lat, at an average rate of nearly six knots in the 
twenty-four hours. Quite apart from the very serious 
dangers to which Nansen and his comrades were exposed 
during this drift voyage, the expedition was carried a long 
way from its projected starting-point, and had lost a great 
deal of very precious time. It was not till July 29 that 
they succeeded in setting foot on dry land, and thus the 
best part of the summer was already gone. 

Nansen has given a vivid description of this interesting 
drift voyage, and of life on the ice floe, which, tossed about 
by the waves and breakers, and repeatedly cracked and 
broken, was yet the abiding-place of the expedition during 
all these days.^ With the mountains of the coast so near 
that in bright weather they could clearly distinguish their 

^ For description, see next chapter. 



I 




58 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

outlines, they were steadily borne southward, farther and 
farther from their goal. 

The night of July 20 might easily have been their last. 
The ice floe on which they were drifting had come right 
out to the verge of the open sea, which was running very 
high, so that the surf kept on washing over the floe almost 
up to the tent. Had the floe been crushed, they might 
very likely have found it impossible to launch the boats in 
such a furious sea, and among the clashing masses of ice. 
In any case they could not have saved mor;e than one of 
the boats, and the most indispensable part of the provi- 
sions and equipment. One scarcely knows which to 
admire the most, — Sverdrup, who kept the night watch, 
pacing calm and composed, with his quid in his cheek, up 
and down the floe, between the tent and the boats, many 
times on the point of loosening the hooks of the tent-flap 
to make them all turn out, but always staying his hand ; 
or Nansen and Dietrichson, who lay quietly asleep in the 
tent, while the surf roared and rattled the ice-brash over 
the rocking floe, and swept ever nearer and nearer until it 
lapped the very edge of the tent. But just as the outlook 
was blackest, the floe suddenly changed its course, headed 
shoreward once more " as if guided by an unseen hand," 
and was soon in safer waters. 

Nansen and his companions had a hard time of it 
during these perilous, exciting days on the ice floe. They 
did not so much mind their toil in the rain and surf, fruit- 
lessly striving to force a passage through openings in the 
ice pack ; they did not so much mind their scanty diet of 
raw horse-flesh, etc. (the cooking apparatus was only once 
lighted during their days of drifting); they did not so 
much mind the dangers that threatened them on every 



ACROSS GREENLAND 59 

hand ; but they dreaded the prospect of having to give up 
for that season the journey across the inland ice. These 
wasted days were trying days indeed. 

When the news of the success of the expedition 
reached Stockholm, Nordenskjbld pointed out, as the 
strongest proof of the admirable energy displayed during 
the entire journey, that when at last they had got through 
the belt of drift ice they instantly set to work to row 
northward again, in order to reach the proper point for 
attacking the ice sheet. They had, in a way, made an 
unfortunate and discouraging start. It was already well 
on in the summer, the supply of provisions was not over- 
abundant, and — civilization was, moreover, within tempt- 
ingly easy reach. They were now only 180 miles from 
the nearest colony, Frederiksdal, while the Sermilikfjord, 
the starting-point originally fixed upon, was nearly twice 
as distant. The mere fact of their resisting the tempta- 
tion to put off till the following year may be called truly 
heroic ; not many would have shown such resolution. 
But for them the temptation was no temptation at all. It 
did not enter their thoughts that there was anything to 
be done- except to head the boats northward as quickly 
as possible. And it was not with anxious fear, but with 
radiant joy, that they now saw a clear water-way before 
them. 

The first problem, that of getting through the drift ice 
with whole skins, was thus solved — with great labor, it is 
true, and loss of precious time, but nevertheless solved. 
It had been prophesied that even this would prove im- 
practicable ; for a long series of vain attempts had shown 
that it was next thing to impossible to penetrate the ice 
belt south of the sixty-sixth degree of latitude. Not until 



6o NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

1883 had Nordenskjold, with the steamer Sophia, suc- 
ceeded in reaching the coast near Cape Dan (King Oscar's 
Haven). So much the more daring was it on Nansen's 
part to make the attempt. 

But now the thing was to make all speed northward. 
The best of the summer was gone. If they were to have 
any chance of reaching the west coast that year, they 
must go at it in earnest. And they did go at it in 
earnest. 

On the day of their landing at Kekertarsu^ak they had 
a lordly repast of hot chocolate and extra rations of oat 
cake, Swiss cheese, mysost (goat's milk cheese), and cran- 
berry jam, to celebrate their landing ; but after that their 
meals consisted of cold water, biscuits, and dried beef — 
they could not waste time in cooking until they had in 
some measure made up what they had lost in the ice 
drift. It was a toilsome journey by boat northward along 
the coast. For long distances they had to exert all their 
strength to force . the ice floes apart in order to get the 
boats through the narrow channels between them ; and 
sometimes they had to drag the boats over the ice, skirt- 
ing the low barren coast, with glaciers and snow-fields 
coming right down to the margin of the sea. They got 
safely past the dreaded glacier Puisortok (near it, at Cape 
Bille, they came upon an encampment of heathen Eski- 
mos, of which Nansen has given a highly interesting 
description),^ and they forced their way with the greatest 
difficulty through a closely packed belt of drift ice south 
of Ingerkajarfik. At Mogens Heinesens Fjord the appear- 
ance of the coast altered. From this point northward 
there is a long stretch of bare coast land, with a view of 

^ See chapter vi. 



ACROSS GREENLAND 6r 

high mountain ranges, " summit on summit, and rank be- 
hind rank." 

By dint of constant battling with the drift ice and the 
current, the expedition reached Nunarsuak (62° 43' N. 
lat.) on August 3. From this point they tried to sail, but 
the wind soon rose to a tempest which was near proving 
fatal, for the boats were on the point of being crushed 
between the ice floes, got their oars and thole-pins 
smashed, and were separated into the bargain. It was a 
hard pinch, but by putting forth all their strength they 
got through it at last, and the tent was pitched on a 
patch of soft greensward on Griff enfeldt's Island, for the 
highly needful repose after an exhausting day. A feast 
of splendid hot caraway soup, " never to be forgotten," 
was the reward for their toils. 

On August 5 the boats narrowly escaped being 
crushed by the falling of a fragment of an iceberg, and 
" after almost incredible labor " they reached in the even- 
ing an islet at the mouth of the Inugsuarmiutfjord, where 
they intended to rest for the night. But from here they 
perceived that the water was open ahead, the fjord lying 
smooth as a mirror ; so their rest had to be adjourned. 
Forward again ! They certainly did " go at it in earnest." 

At Singiartuarfik, on August 6, they again fell in with 
Eskimos. Then northward again, now in open water, 
now fighting with drift ice, always on cold dry diet which 
was served out, moreover, in very scanty rations. They 
were never really satisfied, not even directly after eating ; 
but Nansen said " they had had enough, so enough it had 
to be," as Christiansen put it. To the Lapps, who natu- 
rally had no very clear notion beforehand of what they 
had embarked upon, this perpetual fighting with drift 



62 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

ice, and fasting on top of it, began to seem rather de- 
pressing. 

The coast now became less precipitous again, and the 
mountain contours rounder, and the explorers began to 
think of landing and beginning their journey proper. 
On August 8 they reached Bernstorff's Fjord (Kangerd- 
lugsuak) at about 631-° N. lat. The fjord was brimful of 
glacier ice, many of the huge icebergs rising out of the 
water to a height of over two hundred feet (six or seven 
times as much being under water), and running to a mile 
or so in breadth, sometimes flat-topped, sometimes jutting 
forth into the most fantastic peaks, pinnacles, and crests. 
These colossal masses were so innumerable that they 
threatened to bar all advance. From the top of one of 
them the eye ranged over an " Alpine world of floating 
ice. 

At last chinks were discovered even in this barrier — . 
open channels " with a narrow strip of sky visible between 
high walls of ice." And " although huge icebergs more 
than once collapsed, or capsized with a mighty crash, and 
set up a violent sea-way," here, too, they at last got out of 
their difficulties for the moment. That night they slept 
in the sleeping-bags only, upon a rock so small that there 
was not room to pitch the tent. 

In a more and more open water-way they pressed on 
northward, with masses of ice breaking off from the 
glaciers and icebergs on every side. On August 9, while 
they were in the act of forcing asunder two floes, among 
a number of icebergs, a huge piece of an iceberg fell 
down with a mighty crash upon the floe the}^ were stand- 
ing on, smashing it and violently churning up the sea. 
" Had we gone to that side a few moments earlier, as we 



ACJ?OSS GREENLAND 63 

originally intended, we should almost certainly have been 
crushed to death. It was the third time such a thing had 
happened to us," Nansen says in his account of the expe- 
dition, characteristically describing it as " an odd occur- 
rence." Well may it be called " odd " ! How does it hap- 
pen that some men come safe and sound through all such 
adventures ; go voyages on ice floes and sleep undisturbed 
while the surf is on the point of breaking up the fragile 
barrier between them and eternity ; row in boats under 
toppling icebergs, and get clear of them two minutes be- 
fore they fall ; plump into fissures in the inland ice at the 
very points where their arms and their alpenstocks can 
save them ; row for days in dangerous waters in nutshell 
boats improvised out of sail-cloth, and get in just in time 
to escape storms and certain destruction ; sleep on the ice 
in a temperature of — 45° C. ( — 49° Fahr.) without freezing 
to death ; fall into the ice-cold water half a score of times 
not only without drowning, but without so much as taking 
cold ; lead a dog's life of toil and hunger for months at a 
stretch, and come out none the worse for it ; while others 
— alas ! one has no heart to insist on the contrast. But 
truly it may well be called " odd " ! 

Let us admit that ninety-nine hundredths of this "devil's 
own luck " is due to having an eye on every finger, so to 
speak — is due to the sound mind in the sound body — 
to the alert capacity of genius — to the indomitable energy 
of the man with a vocation. Granted all this, how are we 
to account for the remaining hundredth ? 

These Greenland explorers are in league with destiny ! 

When Njaal and his sons were hard bestead, Njaal would 
have had them give in ; and one of the sons agreed with 
him that that was " the best they could do." Whereupon 



64 NANSEJSr IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Skarphedin answered : " I am not so sure of that, for now 
he is fey." The Saga-man would have us understand that 
he who is " fey," who is marked for death, has no longer 
complete control of his will and his intelligence. 

These young men were not " fey " in any sense of the 
word/ 

They now pressed forward in tolerably open water past 
the glacier-bound coast near Gyldenlove's Fjord and Col- 
berger Heide, and at last, at eight o'clock in the evening 
of August lo, in a thick fog, they made th^ir final land- 
ing on the north side of Umiviksfjord. They were now 
done with the boats, and were overjoyed to haul them up 
on land, Nansen meanwhile making the coffee " for the 
second hot meal in twelve days." 

After Nansen and Sverdrup had assured themselves, by 
a laborious reconnaissance on August ii, that it was pos- 
sible to make the ascent of the inland ice from Umivik, 
the following days were devoted to all kinds of repairs 
of foot-gear, sledge-runners, etc., the final packing of the 
baggage, and, in short, the most careful preparation for 
the journey that lay before them. During all these days 
the weather was mild and calm, with a great deal of rain 
— weather in which it would, not in any case have been 
advisable to make a start. 

At last, at nine in the evening on August i6, every- 
thing was in order for the ascent. The baggage was 
stowed on four sledges, each carrying, about 220 lbs., and 
a fifth, somewhat larger sledge, carrying about double that 
amount. This last was therefore drawn by two men, 
Nansen and Sverdrup. 

^ The word in the original is " feig," which means not only " fey," but 
" cowardly." 



ACJiOSS GREENLAND 65 

The ascent of the ice was very steep, so that their pro- 
gress was slow, and, although they at first travelled by 
night, the surface was soft. The ice was full of crevasses, 
yet not so difficult but that they could manage to get 
across them. It rained a good deal, too, so that they were 
wet to the skin. For three days and nights, from noon 
on the 1 7th till the morning of the 20th, the weather was 
so execrable, with torrents of rain and wind, that there 
was nothing for it but to keep to the tent. They were 
not very agreeable days, especially as the supply of provi- 
sions was so small that Nansen decided that one meal a 
day must suffice while they were doing nothing. 

On the 20th they were able to start off again. It was 
frightfully slow going, over the steep surface, full of rents 
and fissures. On the 21st it cleared up, and there was 
frost enough to make the snow firmer. From that day 
till they reached the west coast they found no drinking 
water an5Avhere, and consequently suffered from a burn- 
ing thirst. While on the march they got nothing to drink 
but just what they could melt by the warmth of their own 
bodies. They filled small flat pocket-flasks with snow and 
carried them in their breasts, often next the skin, until the 
snow was melted. In such intense cold as they encoun- 
tered later, these were hard-earned drops. 

When they turned out at two o'clock on the morning 
of the 2 2d, they found a frozen surface. They were now 
at a height of about 3,000 feet, and thought they had got 
over the worst of the ascent. But the ice was still very 
uneven, and the labor of dragging along the heavy sledges 
was terrible — " the strain on the upper part of the body 
was very trying, and our shoulders felt as if they were 
burned by the ropes." 
5 



66 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

From the 24th onward they travelled by day. The 
cold now began to increase rapidly. Nevertheless, except 
for a single day, the surface was still, as a rule, extremely 
heavy, on account of the loose snow into which the 
sledges sank deep ; and on the 26th they had, in addition, 
a regular snow-storm. The ascent was still so steep (a, 
gradient, sometimes, of i in 4) that it would often take 
three men to pull each sledge, so that they had to cover 
the ground several times over. No wonder that Chris- 
tiansen, who, as a rule, never opened his ipouth, should 1 
have said to Dietrichson after one of these return jour- { 
neys : " Good Lord ! to think of people being so cruel ! 
to themselves as to go in for this sort of thing." The j 
expedition had then reached a height of about 6,000 feet. ' 

This weather, with wind and snow-flurries, continued 
during the following days. Although they tried to make I 
use of the wind by rigging up tarpaulin sails on the j 
sledges, they nevertheless got on so slowly that it began | 
to dawn on Nansen that, at this rate, there would be small j 
prospect of reaching Christianshaab now that the season I 
was so far advanced. On the 28th, therefore, he deter- I 
mined to take a different direction, and steer due west, for j 
Godthaab, or rather for the shores of the Ameralikfjord ( 
(64° 10'), directly south of Godthaab, a considerably nearer ' 
point on the west coast. This proposition was received | 
with joy by every one, and they set off through the snow f 
with the same unremitting toil, although in a slightly dif- ' 
ferent direction. 

The projecting peaks (nunataks) which, up to this point, 1 
they had passed from time to time, now disappeared ; the j' 
last glimpse of bare rock was seen on August 31. After '' 
that nothing but ice and snow met their view until they 
reached the west coast. 



ACROSS GREENLAND 67 

Still their course lay steadily upward. The snow-field 
rose in long, gentle waves, higher and higher toward the 
interior. 

For weeks they fought their way inland in this fashion, 
one day exactly resembling another, and full of endless 
toil from morning till night. The surface of the snow 
was now smooth and even as a mirror, broken only by 
the tracks they themselves made with their feet or their 
sledges. The snow, frequently fresh-fallen, was, as a rule, 
fine and dry, and therefore exceptionally heavy to drag 
the sledges through. The day's march under these con- 
ditions was not long — not more than from five to ten 
miles, although they were now able to use snow-shoes. 

As they advanced the cold became more and more 
severe. When the weather was fine, indeed, the midday 
sun was often quite oppressive, and their feet would get 
wet in the slush ; but as soon as the sun went down, they 
felt the cold of the nights so much the more keenly — 
and they were often in danger of having their wet feet 
frost-bitten. " It often happened, when we came to take 
off our laupar-shoes of an evening, that we found them 
frozen fast in one solid piece with snow-sock and stock- 

ing." 

On September 11, the temperature at night within the 
tent was under — 40° C. ( — 40° Fahr.), and outside the tent 
probably under — 45° C. ( — 49° Fahr.). The difference be- 
tween the day and the night temperature was often more 
than 20° C. (36° Fahr.). Even inside the closed sleeping- 
bag, the cold was so severe that when they awakened they 
would often find their heads completely surrounded with 
ice and hoar frost. " To be obliged to be out constantly 
in such cold is not always agreeable," says Nansen in his 



t 



68 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

book. " It often happened that so much ice formed about 
the face that the beard was absolutely frozen fast to the 
wrappings round the head, and it was difficult enough to 
open the mouth to speak." When in addition to the frost 
there came a snow-storm, we can readily understand that 
it was no joke for them to drag themselves, each with a 
heavy sledge, day after day across the interminable ice 
desert, at an altitude of 8,000 or 9,000 feet above the sea. 
From September 4 to 8 they encountered a furious snow- 
storm, with a temperature of — 40° Fahr. On the 7th, in- 
deed, they dared not stir from their tent, which was care- 
fully hauled taut, lest the wind should blow it to shreds — 
in which case, no doubt, their saga would have been over. 
But when it was at all possible their daily life followed its 
regular course ; and in spite of cold and snow-storm, thirst, 
" fat hunger," and other hardships, they toiled steadily on 
toward the west coast. On September 5 they passed the 
highest point on their route, 8,860 feet. 

On September 1 1 and 1 2 they were at a height of about 
8,300 feet; and from here began a perceptible, if not a 
very marked, down gradient toward the west. On the 
1 6th they came upon several pretty sharp declivities, and 
when the temperature at night " just failed to reach zero " 
they all felt that it was quite mild. 

On the 17th they saw a snow-bunting, and knew they 
must now be nearins^ " land." 

On the 19th they had a favorable wind, and hoisted 
sails on the sledges, which they lashed together, two and 
two. They were soon going at a spanking pace, andj 
now at last they were distinctly upon the downward slopel 
toward the coast. Late in the afternoon they saw " land " 
for the first time. They went on sailing in the moonlight, 



ACROSS GREENLAND 



69 



and very nearly sailed their last voyage, for they had now 
reached the fissured marginal zone of the inland ice, with 
its yawning crevasses many hundred feet deep. 

Nansen himself had the fingers of both hands frost- 
bitten that evening, and suffered " almost intolerable pain " 
(it must have been bad indeed !). They had little enough 




UNDER SAIL IN THE MOONLIGHT — CREVASSES AHEAD 



to eat, too ; but for all this they cared not a whit, for they 
knew now that they were nearing the west coast. 

The next morning (September 20) when they looked 
out of the tent, and saw the whole country south of Godt- 
haabsfjord spread out before them, one can guess what 
were their feelings. "We were like children — a lump 
rose in our throats, while our eyes followed. the_ valleys and, 
sought in vain for a glimpse of the sea.'.' 



70 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

The next day they advanced pretty briskly, although 
with the greatest caution, on account of the numerous 
fissures, among which they had many narrow escapes. 
On the evening of the 21st, for the first time since leaving 
the east coast, they found water, and after several weeks 
of thirst were able to drink freely. " We could positively . 
feel our stomachs distending," says Nansen. These were 
memorable days for them all. 

They pushed on now toward Ameralikfjord ; but it was 
an advance under difficulties. The ice soon^became terri- 
bly uneven, and full of cracks and crevasses on all sides — 
sometimes so impassable that they had to make long de- 
tours. Several times, one or another of them would fall 
into a crevasse, but would generally manage to get his 
alpenstock fixed like a horizontal bar across the fissure. 
" It was odd enough that none of us fell in any deeper." 

In spite of untold difficulties and dangers they made 
their way during the succeeding days across this treacher- ; 
ous marginal zone, and at last, on September 24, reached I 
naked soil, and had the inland ice forever behind them. ; 
" No words can possibly describe what it was to us merely 
to have earth and stones under our feet — the sense of 
well-being that thrilled through every nerve when we felt 
the heather springing under our step, and smelled the 
marvellous fragrance of grass and moss." 

Their difficulties, however, were not yet over — they 
had still a good way to go down the long Austmannadal, 
and now everything had to be carried on their backs. 
This final stage they accomplished in the following days, 
and at last the fjord was reached. 

Here Sverdrup and Balto set to work to stitch together 
ithe hull of a canvas boat, using for the purpose the sail- 



ACROSS GREENLAND 




NANSEN AND SVERDRUP IN THE CANVAS EOAT 



cloth floor of the tent ; while Nansen cut willow-wands to 
make the frame. Oars were improvised out of bamboo 
staves and split willow-branches covered with sail-cloth. 
For thwarts they had nothing but a theodolite-stand and 
two thin bamboo rods. 

It was an uncouth nutshell of a boat, about 8 feet long, 
not quite 4 feet 6 inches wide, and scarcely 2 feet deep. 
It was just big enough to hold Nansen and Sverdrup, and 
the most necessary baggage; and they had to keep their 
tongues pretty straight in their mouths, or it would have 
capsized. 

After a terrible business in getting boat and baggage 
through the river delta and across a clayey spit of land to 
the -open water, on September 29, Nansen and Sverdrup 
at last rowed off down the Ameralikfjord. Although the 
boat could scarcely be classed as Ai, and leaked so that it 



72 NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

had to be baled every ten minutes, it nevertheless carried 
them to their journey's end. 

They had favorable weather on the whole, and, by dint 
of great exertions, they brought their coracle safe and 
sound to New Herrnhut at midday on October 3. 
Scarcely had they got ashore when a terrific southerly 
gale came on. From New Herrnhut they went overland 
to Godthaab. 

Dietrichson,Xhristiansen, and the two Lapps, who had 
remained behind at the head of the Ameralikfjord with 
the bulk of the baggage and no great store of provisions, 
were brought off in safety as soon as the weather per- 
mitted; and thus, on October 16, did this remarkable 
expedition come to a fortunate close. 

"We had toiled hard, and undeniably suffered a good 
deal in order to reach this goal ; and what were now our 
sensations ? Were they those of the happy victor ? No ; 
we had looked forward so long to the goal that we had 
discounted its attainment." So Nansen writes of his feel- 
ings the evening before they arrived at Godthaab. And 
this is, no doubt, comprehensible enough. They were too 
tired, too worn out, for the abstract exultation at having 
actually reached their goal to be able to assert itself effec- 
tually against the more material delights, for example, of 
eating till they were satisfied and sleeping in a proper 
bed. 

Besides, the satisfaction had been broken up into many 
happy moments during the actual journey — they had had 
a taste of it when, with confident hope, they landed on the 
east coast, after forcing their passage through the- drift 
ice ; they had revelled in it when they first saw land from 
the heights of the inland ice, when they first found water 



ACJiOSS GREENLAND 73 

to drink, when they first felt the soHd earth, with heather 
and moss, under their feet, when they launched their boat 
on the waves of the Ameralikfjord. The satisfaction 
really lay in the exploit as a whole, in the stimulating 
open-air life, toilsome though it was — not so much in the 
goal attained, as in the struggle to attain it. As soon as 
that was done, why, it was done ; there was no longer 
anything to toil and strive for, and lassitude rushed in 
upon them until other more distant goals began to loom 
ahead in their thoughts. This, indeed, is what inevitably 
happens to every man who is really born with the spirit 
of research. So long as he has strength and faculty for 
new problems, his joy over those achieved must be short- 
lived. It must give place, in the ferment of the mind, to 
new aspirations ; and in Nansen's case these new aspira- 
tions were alread)^ ly^^g ii^ wait. We may safely assume 
that even during his stay in Greenland the plan of his 
next great enterprise must have been taking shape in his 
thoughts. 

When the expedition reached the colon)^, the ship from 
Godthaab had already started. Nansen, however, got 
kaiak-men to take letters to Ivigtut, seventy miles south 
of Godthaab. They were duly delivered, at the last 
moment, on board the steamer Fox, which had carried 
McClintock on his voyage in search of Franklin ; and 
thus the news of the successful issue of the Greenland 
expedition reached Europe that autumn. It chanced 
that the Fox w^as obliged, by scarcity of coal, to touch at 
Skudesnses, so that Nansen's native country got the first 
inteUigence. 

The two letters brought by the steamer, one from 



74 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Nansen to Gamel, the other from Sverdrup to his father, 
were soon telegraphed over the whole world, and, as will 
be remembered, were everywhere received with great 
rejoicing. 

Meanwhile Nansen and his comrades had to winter in 
Godthaab, where Herr Bistrups, the director of the colony. 
Doctor Binzers, Pastor Balles, and the other Danish 
residents, showed them the greatest hospitality, and did 
everything to- make their stay as pleasant as possible. 
Nansen himself turned his time to account in studying 
the Eskimos. He shared their life with them in their 
huts, went thoroughly into their methods of hunting, 
their customs and occupations, and even got to know 
their language pretty well. He learned to manage the 
kaiak and wield their weapons; in short, he spared no 
possible pains in his study of this remarkable people, for 
whom he soon came to entertain a real affection. 

He also made several excursions with the Greenlanders, 
a hunting expedition to Ameralikfjord, and longer trips 
to Sardlok and Kangek, during which he lived for some 
weeks entirely with the Eskimos. 

On April 15, 1889, while Nansen and his comrades sat 
chatting over their coffee with the colonial director and 
the doctor, the whole colony resounded with one universal 
cry, " Umiarsuit ! Umiarsuit ! " (The ship, the ship !) 
It was the longed-for vessel, Hvidbjornen, under the 
command of Lieutenant Garde. 

The hour of departure had come, and everything was 
soon in order. " It was not without sorrow," Nansen 
says, " that some of us turned our backs on the people 
who had been so good to us, and the place where we had 
lived so happily." So far as Nansen himself is concerned, 



ACROSS GREENLAND 



75 



one may be sure that these words are the expression of 
sincere feeHng. A nature hke his, with its healthy 
passion for open-air activity, must have been in its ele- 
ment among these kindly primitive people. He relates 
a charmingly characteristic little incident of their leave- 
taking. One of his Eskimo friends, whom he had often 
visited, said to him the day before his departure : "Now 
you are going back to the great world whence you came 
to us, and you will meet many people there, and hear 
many new things, and you will soon forget us ; dut we 
will never forget your 

Those who know Nansen know that he has not fors^ot- 
ten his Eskimo friends ; and those who have read his book 
describing their life will understand how dear they had 
become to him. 

On May 2 1 , after a favorable passage, Hvidbjoi'nen an- 
chored in the harbor of Copenhagen. It was a little more 
than a year since Nansen, on his way to Greenland, had 
passed through Copenhagen, and put the hasty finishing 
touches to the preparations for the expedition. A great 
deal had happened in the interval. In himself, indeed, he 
was just the same when he came back as when he went 
away ; but in the eyes of the world he was a very differ- 
ent person. Then he had been a young dare-devil setting 
forth on a forlorn hope ; now he was the world-renowned 
explorer who had successfully carried through a great un- 
dertaking. 

And then came the triumphs. First a week's festivi- 
ties in Copenhagen, and then the home-coming — such a 
home-coming as has fallen to the lot of no other Norwe- 
gian. It was a lovely day as the triumphal procession 
passed up Christiania Fjord — all the ships were in festal 



76 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



array, the woods wore their first green leaves, there 
were flowers and flags and music on every hand, up the 
whole long fjord, to the city. It was as though a flood of 
color and warmth had streamed forth to greet these vis- 
itants from the white wastes of the inland ice. 

First came the men-of-war and the torpedo boats, skim- 
ming along beside the 
M. G. Melchior, and 
forming a guard of 
honor, right up to the 
capital ; then the great 
squadron of steamships^ 
then the sailing-boats 
and cutters with their 
white sails, darting 
around Nansen's ship 
like a flock of sea-gulls, 
now astern, now abeam, 
now ahead. There he 
stood in his gray clothes 
which had turned to 
dirty brown in the 
Greenland turf huts. 
The honor done him 
was too overpowering for him to feel proud at that mo- 
ment. A softer and more subdued emotion must doubt- 
less have been in the ascendant. He must have felt how 
he passed over into his people, and became one with it. 
He had gone forth as an emissary, an interpreter of this 
people ; the courage which goes unknown and unrecorded 
to its fate in the dark nights on sea and fjord, it had been 
his happy lot to lead forward into sunshine and victory 




NANSEN AT THIRTY-ONE 



ACJ^OSS GREENLAND 77 

)efore the eyes of the whole world. Among all the thou- 
sands who waved to him from the ramparts of Akerhus, 
who burst the cordon of the police and swarmed round his 
carriage in the streets, how many at that moment had any 
thought of science ? It was the exploit that appealed to 
them — they saw in him the victorious chieftain, the con- 
necting link between the heroes of the Sagas and the 
heroes of every-day life, the fisherman clinging to his over- 
turned boat, the snow-shoer on the wintry uplands, the 
lumberman shooting the rapids on his raft. They saw in 
him the national type ; and they were right in a way. In 
that hour he must certainly have felt himself close-knit 
to the soil from which his deed had sprung, and memories 
of childhood must have rushed in upon him when his car- 
riage stopped at the house of the sisters Larsen, and he 
ran upstairs to greet the old housekeeper at Great Froen, 
who had bandaged his blood-stained forehead the first 
time that he kissed the ice. 



CHAPTER V 



DRIFTING IN THE ICE ^ 



Next morning, July 20, I was roused by some violent 
shocks to the^ floe on which we were encamped, and 
thought the motion of the sea must have increased very 
considerably. When we get outside we discover that the 
floe has split in two not far from the tent. The Lapps, 
who had at once made for the highest points of our piece 
of ice, now shout that they can see the open sea. And 
so it is ; far in the distance lies the sea sparkling in the 
morning sunshine. It is a sight we have not had since 
we left the Jason. 

I may here reproduce the entries in my diary for this 
and the following day : — 

" The swell is growing heavier and heavier, and the 
water breaking over our floe with ever-increasing force. 
The blocks of ice and slush, which come from the grind- 
ing of the floes together, and are thrown up round the 
edges of our piece, do a good deal to break the violence 
of the waves. The worst of it all is that we are being car- 
ried seaward with ominous rapidity. We l6ad our sledges 
and try to drag them inward toward land, but soon see 
that the pace we are drifting at is too much for us. So 
we begin again to look around us for a safer floe to pitch 
our camp on, as our present one seems somewhat shaky. 
When we first took to it it was a good round flat piece 

^ From Nansen's Acfoss Greenland. 



DRIFTING IN THE ICE 79 

about seventy yards across, but it split once during the 
night, and is now preparing to part again at other places, 
so that we shall soon not have much of it left. Close by 
us is a large strong floe, still unbroken, and thither we 
move our camp. 

" Meanwhile the breakers seem to be drawing nearer, 
their roar grows louder, the swell comes rolling in and 
washes over the ice all around us, and the situation prom- 
ises before long to be critical. 

" Poor Lapps ! they are not in the best of spirits. This 
morning they had disappeared, and I could not imagine 
what had become of them, as there were not many places 
on our little island where any of us could hide ourselves 
away. Then I noticed that some tarpaulins had been 
carefully laid over one of the boats. I lifted a corner 
gently and saw both the Lapps lying at the bottom of the 
boat. The younger, Balto, was reading aloud to the other 
out of his Lappish New Testament. Without attracting 
their attention I replaced the cover of this curious little 
house of prayer which they had set up for themselves. 
They had given up hope of life, and were making ready 
for death." — As Balto confided to me one day long after- 
ward, they had opened their hearts to one another here 
in the boat and mingled their tears together, bitterly 
reproaching themselves and others because they had ever 
been brought to leave their homes. This is not to 
be wondered at, as they have so little interest in the 
scheme. 

" It is glorious weather, with the sun so hot and bright 
that we must have recourse to our spectacles. We take 
advantage of this to get an observation, our bearings 
showing us to be in 65° 8' N. and 38° 20 W., i. e., 30 



So NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

minutes or about 35 miles from the mouth of Sermilik- 
fjord, and from 23 to 25 minutes or about 30 miles from 
the nearest land. 

" We get our usual dinner ready, deciding, however, in 
honor of the occasion, to treat ourselves to pea-soup. 
This is the first time we have allowed ourselves to cook 
anything. While the soup is being made the swell in- 
creases so violently that our cooking apparatus is on the 
point of capsizing over and over again. 

" The Lapps go through their dinner in perfect silence, 
but the rest of us talk and joke as usual, the violent rolls 
of our floe repeatedly giving rise to witticisms on the part 
of one or other of the company, which in spite of our- 
selves kept our laughing muscles in constant use. As far 
as the Lapps were concerned, however, these jests fell on 
anything but good ground, for they plainly enough 
thought that this was not at all the proper time and place 
for such frivolity. 

" From the highest point on our floe we can clearly see 
how the ice is being washed by the breakers, while the 
columns of spray thrown high into the air look like white 
clouds against the background of blue sky. No living 
thing can ride the floes out there as far as we can see. 
It seems inevitable that we must be carried thither, but, 
as our floe is thick and strong, we hope to last for a while. 
We have no idea of leaving it before we need, but when 
it comes to that, and we can hold on no longer, our last 
chance will be to try and run our boats out through the 
surf. This will be a wet amusement, but we are deter- 
mined to do our best in the fight for life. Our provi- 
sions, ammunition, and other things are divided between 
the two boats, so that if one is stove in and sinks we 



DRIFTING IN THE ICE 8i 

shall have enough to keep us alive in the other. We 
should probably be able to save our lives in that case, 
but of course the success of the expedition would be very 
doubtful. 

" To run one of our loaded boats into the water 
through the heavy surf and rolling floes without getting 
her swamped or crushed will perhaps be possible, as we 
can set all our hands to work, but it will be difficult for 
the crew of the remaining boat to get their ship launched. 
After consideration we come to the conclusion that we 
must only put what is absolutely necessary into one boat, 
and keep it as light as possible, so that in case of 
extremity we can take to it alone. For the rest, we shall 
see how things look when we actually reach the breakers. 

" We have scarcely half a mile left now, and none of us 
have any doubt but that before another couple of hours 
are passed we shall find ourselves either rocking on the 
open sea, making our way along the ice southward, or 
sinking to the bottom. 

" Poor Ravna deserves most sympathy. He is not yet 
at all accustomed to the sea and its caprices. He moves 
silently about, fiddling with one thing or another, now and 
again goes up to the highest points of our floe, and gazes 
anxiously out toward the breakers. His thoughts are 
evidently with his herd of reindeer, his tent, and wife and 
children far away on the Finmarken mountains, where all 
is now sunshine and summer weather. 

" But why did he ever leave all this ? Only because 
he was offered money } Alas ! what is money compared 
with happiness and home, where all is now sun and sum- 
mer } Poor Ravna ! 

" It is but human at such moments to let the remem- 



82 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

brance dwell on what has been fairest in life, and few 
indeed can have fairer memories to look back upon than 
yours of the mountain and reindeer-herd. 

" But here, too, the sun is shining as kindly and peace- 
fully as elsewhere, down on the rolling sea and thundering 
surf, which is boiling round us. The evening is glorious, 
as red as it was yesterday, and as no doubt it will be to- 
morrow and ever after, setting the western sky on fire, 
and pressing its last long passionate kiss on land and ice 
and sea before it disappears behind the barrier of the 
'inland ice.' There is not a breath of wind stirring, and 
the sea is rolling in upon us ruddy and polished as a 
shield under the light of the evening sky. 

" Beautiful it is, indeed, with these huge long billows 
coming rolling in, sweeping on as if nothing could with- 
stand them. They fall upon the white floes, and then, 
raising their green, dripping breasts, they break and 
throw fragments of ice and spray far before them on to 
the glittering snow, or high above them into the blue air. 
But it seems almost strange that such surroundings can 
be the scene of death. Yet death must come one day, 
and the hour of our departure could scarcely be more 
glorious. 

" But we have no time to waste ; we are getting very 
near now. The swell is so heavy that when we are down 
in the hollows we can see nothing of the ice around us, 
nothing but the sky above. Floes crash together, break, 
and are ground to fragments all about us, and our own 
has also split. If we are going to sea we shall need all 
our strength in case we have to row for days together in 
order to keep clear of the ice. So all hands are ordered 
to bed in the tent, which is the only thing we have not 



DRIFTING IN THE ICE 83 

yet packed into the boats. Sverdrup, as the most experi- 
enced and cool-headed among us, is to take the first 
watch and turn us out at the critical moment. In two 
hours Christiansen is to take his place. 

" I look in vain for any sign which can betray fear on 
the part of my comrades, but they seem as cool as ever, 
and their conversation is as usual. The Lapps alone show 
some anxiety, though it is that of a calm resignation, for 
they are fully convinced that they have seen the sun set 
for the last time. In spite of the roar of the breakers we 
are soon fast asleep, and even the Lapps seem to be slum- 
bering quietly and soundly. They are too good children 
of nature to let anxiety spoil their sleep. Balto, who, not 
finding the tent safe enough, is lying in one of the boats, 
did not even wake when some time later it was almost 
swept by the waves, and Sverdrup had to hold it to keep 
it on the floe. 

" After sleeping for a while, I do not know how long, I 
am woke by the sound of the water rushing close by my 
head and just outside the wall of the tent. I feel the floe 
rocking up and down like a ship in a heavy sea, and the 
roar of the surf is more deafening than ever. I lay expect- 
ing every moment to hear Sverdrup call me or to see the 
tent filled with water, but nothing of the kind happened. I 
could distinctly hear his familiar steady tread up and down 
the floe between the tent and the boats. I seemed to my- 
self to see his sturdy form as he paced calmly backward 
and forward, with his hands in his pockets and a slight 
stoop in his shoulders, or stood with his calm and thought- 
ful face gazing out to sea, his quid now and again turning 
in his cheek — I remember no more, as I dozed off to 
sleep again. 



84 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" I did not wake again till it was full morning. Then I 
started up in astonishment, for I could hear nothing of the 
breakers but a distant thunder. When I got outside the 
tent I saw that we were a long way off the open sea. Our 
floe, however, was a sight to remember. Fragments of 
ice, big and little, had been thrown upon it by the waves 
till they formed a rampart all around us, and the ridge 
on which our tent and one of the boats stood was the 
only part the se^ had not washed. 

" Sverdrup now told us that several times in the course 
of the night he had stood by the tent-door prepared to 
turn us out. Once he actually undid one hook, then 
waited a bit, took another turn to the boats, and then 
another look at the surf, leaving the hook unfastened in 
case of accident. We were then right out at the extreme 
edge of the ice. A huge crag of ice was swaying in the 
sea close beside us, and threatening every moment to fall 
upon our floe. The surf was washing us on all sides, but 
the rampart that had been thrown up round us did us 
good service, and the tent and one of the boats still stood 
high and dry. The other boat, in which Balto was asleep, 
was washed so heavily that again and again Sverdrup had 
to hold it in its place. 

" Then matters got still worse. Sverdrup came to the 
tent-door again, undid another hook, but again hesitated 
and waited for the next sea. He undid no more hooks, 
however. Just as things looked worst, and our floe's turn 
had come to ride out into the middle of the breakers, she 
suddenly changed her course, and with astonishing speed 
we were once more sailing in toward land. So marvellous 
was the change that it looked as if it were the work of an 
unseen hand. When I got out we were far inside and in 



DRIFTING IN THE ICE 



85 



a good harbor, though the roar of the breakers was still 
audible enough to remind us of the night. Thus for this 
time we were spared the expected trial of the seaworthi- 
ness of our boats and our own seamanship." 





THE ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT AT CAPE BILLE 
jf {By E. Nielsen, from a photograph) 

CHAPTER VI 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT ON THE EAST COAST ^ 

As we drew near Cape Bille, the promontory which Hes 
to the north of Puisortok, we heard strange sounds from 
shore — as it were, a mixture of human voices and the 
barking of dogs. As we gazed thither we now caught 
sight of some dark masses of moving objects, which, as 
we examined them more closely, we found to be groups 
of human beings. They were spread over the terrace of 
rock, were chattering in indistinguishable Babel, gesticu- 
lating, and pointing toward us as we worked our way 
quietly through the ice. They had evidently been watch- 
ing us for some time. We now too discovei*ed a number 
of skin-tents which were perched among the rocks, and at 
the same time became aware of a noteworthy smell of 
train-oil or some similar substance, which followed the off- 
shore breeze. Though it was still early, and though the 
water in front of us seemed open for some distance, we 
could not resist the temptation of visiting these strange 
and unknown beings. At the moment we turned our 

■* From Nansen's Across Greenland. 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 87 

boats toward shore the clamor increased tenfold. They 
shrieked and yelled, pointed, and rushed, some down to 
the shore, others up on to higher rocks in order to see us 
better. If we were stopped by ice and took out our long 
boat-hooks and bamboo poles to force the floes apart and 
make ourselves a channel, the confusion on shore rose to 
an extraordinary pitch, the cries and laughter growing 
simply hysterical. As we got in toward land some men 
came darting out to us in their " kaiaks," among them 
a native whom we had seen in the morning. Their faces 
one and all simply beamed with smiles, and in the most 
friendly way they swarmed around us in their active little 
craft, trying to point us out the way, which we could quite 
well find ourselves, and gazing in wonder at our strong 
boats as they glided on regardless of ice, which would have 
cut their fragile boats of skin in pieces. 

At last we passed the last floe and drew in to shore. 
It was now growing dusk, and the scene that met us was 
one of the most fantastic to which I have ever been 
witness. All about the ledges of rock stood long rows 
of strangely wild and shaggy-looking creatures — men, 
women, and children all in much the same scanty dress 
— staring and pointing at us, and uttering the same bo- 
vine sound which had so much struck us in the morning. 
Now it was just as if we had a whole herd of cows about 
us, lowing in chorus as the cowhouse door is opened in 
the morning to admit the expected fodder. Down by 
the water's edge were a number of men eagerly strug- 
gling and gesticulating to show us a good landing-place, 
which, together with other small services of the kind, is 
the acknowledged Eskimo welcome to strangers whom 
they are pleased to see. Up on the rocks were a number 



88 HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

of yellowish-brown tents, and lower down canoes, skin- 
boats, and other implements, while more " kaiaks " 
swarmed round us in the water. Add to all this the 
neighboring glacier, the drifting floes, and the glowing 
evening sky, and, lastly, our two boats and six unkempt- 
looking selves, and the whole formed a picture which we 
at least are not likely to forget. The life and movement 
were a welcome contrast indeed to the desolation and 
silence which we had so long endured. 

It was not long, of course, before our boats were safely 
moored, and we standing on shore surrounded by crowds 
of natives, who scanned us and our belongings with won- 
dering eyes. Beaming smiles and kindliness met us on 
all sides. A smiling face is the Eskimo's greeting to a 
stranger, as his language has no formula of welcome. 

Then we look around us for a bit. Here amid the ice 
and snow these people seemed to be comfortable enough, 
and we felt indeed that we would willingly prolong our 
stay among them. As we stopped in front of the largest 
tent, at the sight of the comfortable glow that shone out 
through its outer opening, we were at once invited in by 
signs. We accepted the invitation, and as soon as we 
had passed the outer doorway a curtain of thin membra- 
neous skin was pushed aside for us, and, bending our 
heads as we entered, we found ourselves in a cosey room. 

The sight and smell which . now met us were, to put it 
mildly, at least unusual. I had certainly been given to 
understand that the Eskimos of the east coast of Green- 
land were in the habit of reducing their indoor dress to 
the smallest possible dimensions, and that the atmosphere 
of their dwellings was the reverse of pleasant. But a 
sight so extraordinary, and a smell so remarkable, had 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 89 

never come within the grasp of my imagination. The 
smell, which was a peculiar blending of several charac- 
teristic ingredients, was quite enough to occupy one's 
attention at first entrance. The most prominent of the 
components was due to the numerous train-oil lamps 
which were burning, and this powerful odor was well 
tempered with human exhalations of every conceivable 
kind, as well as the pungent effluvia of a certain fetid 
liquid which was stored in vessels here and there about 
the room, and which, as I subsequently learned, is, from 
the various uses to which it is applied, one of the most 
important and valuable commodities of Eskimo domestic 
economy. Into further details I think it is scarcely ad- 
visable to go, and I must ask the reader to accept my 
assurance that the general effect was anything but at- 
tractive to the unaccustomed nose of the new-comer. 
However, familiarity soon has its wonted effect, and one's 
first abhorrence may even before long give way to a cer- 
tain degree of pleasure. But it is not the same with 
every one, and one or two of our party were even con- 
strained to retire incontinently. 

For my own part, I soon found myself sufficiently at 
ease to be able to use my eyes. My attention was first 
arrested by the number of naked forms which thronged 
the tent in standing, sitting, and reclining positions. All 
the occupants were, in fact, attired in their so-called 
" natit " or indoor dress, the dimensions of which are so 
extremely small as to make it practically invisible to the 
stranger's inexperienced eye. The dress consists of a 
narrow band about the loins, which in the case of the 
women is reduced to the smallest possible dimensions. 

Of false modesty, of course, there was no sign, but it is 



90 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

not to be wondered at that the unaffected ingenuousness 
with which all intercourse was carried on made a very- 
strange impression upon us conventional Europeans in 
the first instance. Nor will the blushes which rose to the 
cheeks of some among us when we saw a party of young 
fmen and women who followed us into the tent at once 
proceed to attire themselves in their indoor dress, or, in 
other words, divest themselves cf every particle of cloth- 
ing which they wore, be laid to our discredit, when it is 
remembered that we had been accustomed to male society 
exclusively during our voyage and adventures among the 
ice. The Lapps especially were much embarrassed at 
the unwonted sight. 

The natives now thronged in in numbers, and the tent 
was soon closely packed. We had been at once invited 
to sit down upon some chests which stood by the thin 
skin-curtain at the entrance. These are the seats which 
are always put at the disposal of visitors, while the occu- 
pants have their places upon the long bench or couch 
which fills the back part of the tent. This couch is made 
of planks, is deep enough to give room for a body re- 
clining at full length, and is as broad as the whole width 
of the tent. It is covered with several layers of seal-skin, 
and upon it the occupants spend their whole indoor life, 
men and women alike, sitting often cross-legged as they 
work, and taking their meals and rest and sleep. 

The tent itself is of a very peculiar construction. The 
framework consists of a sort of high trestle, upon which a 
number of poles are laid, forming a semicircle below, and 
converging more or less to a point at the top. Over 
these poles a double layer of skin is stretched, the inner 
coat with the hair turned inward, and the outer generally 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 91 

consisting of the old coverings of boats and " kaiaks." 
The entrance is under the above-mentioned trestle, which 
is covered by the thin curtain of which I have already 
spoken. 

This particular tent housed four or five different fami- 
lies. Each of them had its own partition marked off 
upon the common couch, and in each of the stalls so 
formed man, wife, and children would be closely packed, 
a four-foot space thus having sometimes to accommodate 
husband, two wives, and six or more children. 

Before every family stall a train-oil lamp was burning 
with a broad flame. These lamps are flat, semicircular 
vessels of pot-stone, about a foot in length. The wick is 
made of dried moss, which is placed against one side of 
the lamp and continually fed with pieces of fresh blubber, 
which soon melts into oil. The lamps are in charge of 
the women, who have special sticks to manipulate the 
wicks with, to keep them both from smoking and from 
burning too low. Great pots of the same stone hang 
above, and in them the Eskimos cook all their food which 
they do not eat raw. Strange to say, they use neither 
peat nor wood for cooking purposes, though such fuel is 
not difficult to procure. The lamps are kept burning 
night and day ; they serve for both heating and lighting 
purposes, for the Eskimo does not sleep in the dark, like 
other people ; and they also serve to maintain a perma- 
nent odor of train-oil, which, as I have said, our Euro- 
pean senses at first found not altogether attractive, but 
which they soon learned not only to tolerate, but to take 
pleasure in. 

As we sat in a row on the chests, taking stock of our 
strange surroundings, our hosts began to try to enter- 



92 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

tain us. The use of every object we looked at was kindly 
explained to us, partly by means of words, of which we 
understood nothing, and partly by actions, which were 
somewhat more within reach of our comprehension. In 
this way we learned that certain wooden racks which 
hung from the roof were for drying clothes on, that the 
substance cooking in the pots was seal's-flesh, and so on. 
Then they showed us various things which they were 
evidently very proud of. Some old women opened a bag, 
for instance, and brought out a little bit of Dutch screw- 
tobacco, while a man displayed a knife with a long bone- 
handle. These two things were, no doubt, the most 
notable possessions in the tent, for they were regarded by 
all the company with especial veneration. Then they 
began to explain to us the mutual relations of the various 
occupants of the tent. A man embraced a fat woman, 
and thereupon the pair with extreme complacency pointed 
to some younger individuals, the whole pantomime giving 
us to understand that the party together formed a family 
of husband, wife, and children. The man then proceeded 
to stroke his wife down the back and pinch her here and 
there to show us how charming and delightful she was, 
and how fond he was of her, the process giving her, at 
the same time, evident satisfaction. 

Curiously enough, none of the men in this particular 
tent seemed to have more than one wife, though it is a 
common thing among the east coast Eskimos for a man to 
keep two if he can afford them, though never more than 
two. As a rule the men are good to their wives, and a 
couple may even be seen to kiss each other at times, 
though the process is not carried out on European lines, 
but by a mutual rubbing of noses. Domestic strife is, 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 93 

however, not unknown, and it sometimes leads to violent 
scenes, the end of which generally is that the woman 
receives either a vigorous castigation or the blade of a 
knife in her arm or leg, after which the relation between 
the two becomes as cordial as ever, especially if the 
woman has children. 

In our tent the best of understandings seem to prevail 
among the many occupants. Toward us they were 
especially friendly, and talked incessantly, though it had 
long been quite clear to them that all their efforts in this 
direction were absolutely thrown away. One of the 
elders of the party, who w^as evidently a prominent per- 
sonage among them, and probably an " angekok " or 
magician, an old fellow with a wily, cunning expression, 
and a more dignified air than the rest, managed to explain 
to us with a great deal of trouble that some of them had 
come from the north and were going south, while others 
had come from the south and were bound north ; that the 
two parties had met here by accident, that we had joined 
them, and that altogether they did not know when they 
had had such a good time before. Then he wanted to 
know where we had come from, but this was not so easily 
managed. We pointed out to sea, and as well as we 
could tried to make them understand that we had forced 
our way through the ice, had reached land farther south, 
and then worked up northward. This information made 
our audience look very doubtful indeed, and -another 
chorus of lowing followed, the conclusion evidently being 
that there was something supernatural about us. In this 
way the conversation went on, and, all things considered, 
we were thoroughly well entertained, though to an out- 
side observer our pantomimic efforts would, of course, 
have seemed extremely comical. 



94 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

I will not be rash enough to assert that all the faces 
that surrounded us were indisputably clean. Most of them 
were, no doubt, naturally of a yellowish or brownish hue, 
but how much of the color that we saw in these very 
swarthy countenances was really genuine we had no means 
of deciding. In some cases, and especially among the chil- 
dren, the dirt had accumulated to such an extent that it 
was already passing into the stage of a hard black crust, 
which here and there had begun to break away and to 
show the true skin beneath. Every face, too, with few 
exceptions, simply glistened with blubber. Among the 
women, especially the younger section, who here as in 
some other parts of the world are incontinently vain, wash- 
ing is said to be not uncommon, and Holm even accuses 
them of being very clean. But as to the exact nature of 
the process which leads to this result it will perhaps be 
better for me to say no more. 

It might be supposed that the surroundings and habits 
of these people, to which I have already referred, together 
with many other practices, which I have thought it better 
not to specify, would have an extremely repellent effect 
upon the stranger. But this is by no means the case 
when one has once overcome the first shock which the 
eccentricity of their ways is sure to cause, when one has 
ceased to notice such things as the irrepressible tendency 
of their hands to plunge into the jungle of their hair in 
hot pursuit, as their dirt-encrusted faces — a point on 
which, I may remark, we ourselves in our then condition 
had little right to speak — and as the strange atmosphere 
in which they live ; and if one is careful at first not to look 
too closely into their methods of preparing food, the gen- 
eral impression received is absolutely attractive. There 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 



95 



is a frank and homely geniality in all their actions which 
is very winning, and can only make the stranger feel thor- 
oughly comfortable in their society. 

People's notions on the subject of good looks vary so 
much that it is difficult to come to a satisfactory determi- 
nation with regard to these Eskimos. If we bind ourselves 
down to any established ideal of beauty, such as, for in- 
stance, the Venus of Milo, the question is soon settled. 
The east coast of Greenland, it must be confessed, is not 
rich in types of this kind. But if we can only make an 
effort and free our critical faculty from a standard which 
has been forced upon it by the influences of superstition 
and heredity, and can only agree to allow that the thing 
which attracts us, and on which we look with delight, for 
these very reasons possesses the quality of beauty, then 
the problem becomes very much more difficult of solution. 
I have no doubt that, were one to live with these people for 
a while and grow accustomed to them, one would soon 
find many a pretty face and many an attractive feature 
among them. 

As it was, indeed, we saw more than one face which a 
European taste would allow to be pretty. There was one 
woman especially who reminded me vividly of an acknow- 
ledged beauty at home in Norway; and not only I, but 
one of my companions who happened to know the proto- 
type, was greatly struck by the likeness. The faces of 
these Eskimos are as a rule round, with broad, outstanding 
jaws, and are, in the case of the women especially, very 
fat, the cheeks being particularly exuberant. The eyes 
are dark and often set a little obliquely, while the nose is 
flat, narrow above, and broad below. The whole face often 
looks as if it had been compressed from the front and 



96 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

forced to make its growth from the sides. Among the 
women, and more especially the children, the face is so flat 
that one could almost lay a ruler across from cheek to 
cheek without touching the nose ; indeed, now and again 
one will see a child whose nose really forms a depression 
in the face rather than the reverse. It will be understood 
from this that many of these people show no signs of ap- 
proaching the European standard of good looks, but it is 
not exactly in this direction that the Eskimo s attractions, 
generally speaking, really lie. At the same time there is 
something kindly, genial, and complacent in his stubby, 
dumpy, oily features which is quite irresistible. 

Their hands and feet alike are unusually small and well- 
shaped. Their hair is absolutely black, and quite straight, 
resembling horse-hair. The men often tie it back from 
the forehead with a string of beads and leave it to fall 
down over the shoulders. Some who have no such band 
have it cut above the forehead or round the whole head 
with the jawbone of a shark, as their superstitions will not 
allow them on any account to let iron come into contact 
with it, even when the doubtful course of having it cut at 
all has been resolved upon. But, curiously enough, a man 
who has begun to cut his hair in his youth must necessa- 
rily continue the practice all his life. The women gather 
their hair up from behind and tie it with a strip of seal- 
skin into a cone, which must stand as perpendicularly as 
possible. This convention is, of course, especially strin- 
gent in the case of the young unmarried women, who, to 
obtain the desired result, tie their hair back from the fore- 
head and temples so tightly that by degrees it gradually 
gives way, and they become bald at a very early age. A 
head which has felt the effects of this treatment is no 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 



97 



attractive sight, but the victim in such cases has generally 
been a long time married and settled in life, and the dis- 
advantage is therefore not so keenly felt. 

After we had been sitting in the tent for a while, one of 




ESKIMO BEAUTY, FROM THE EAST COAST, IN HER OLD AGE 
{_By E. Nielsen, frojn a photograph taken by the Danish " Konebaad''' expedition) 

the elders of the company, the old man with the unat- 
tractive expression, of whom I have already spoken, rose 
and went out. Presently he came in again with a long line 
of seal-skin, which, as he sat on the bench, he began to un- 
roll. I regarded this performance with some wonder, as I 
could not imagine what was going to happen. Then he 
brought out a knife, cut off a long piece, and, rising, gave 
it to one of us. Then he cut off another piece of equal 

7 



98 



NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



length and gave it to another, and the process was re- 
peated till we all six were alike provided. When he had 
finished his distribution he smiled and beamed at us, in 
his abundant satisfaction with himself and the world at 
large. Then another of them went out, 
came back with a similar line, and dis- 
tributed it in like manner ; whereupon 
a third followed his example, and so 
the game was kept going till we were 
each of us provided with four or five 
pieces of seal-skin line. Poor things ! 
they gave us what they could, and what 
they thought would be useful to us. 
It was the kind of line they use, when 
seal-catching, to connect the point of 
the harpoon to the bladder which pre- 
vents the seal from escaping, and it 
is astonishingly strong. 

After this exhibition of liberality we 
sat for a time looking at one another, and I expected that 
our hosts would show by signs their desire for something 
in return. After a while, too, the old man did get up and 
produce something which he evidently kept as a possession 
of great price and rarity. It was nothing else than a clumsy, 
rusty old rifle, with the strangest contrivance in the way of 
a hammer that it has ever been my good luck to see. It 
consisted of a huge, unwieldy piece of iron, in which 
there was a finger-hole to enable the user to cock it. As 
I afterwards found, this is the ordinary form of rifle on 
the west coast of Greenland, and it is specially constructed 
for use in the " kaiak." After the old man had shown us 
this curiosity, and we had duly displayed our admiration, 




ESKIMO KOY, FROM THE 
CAMP AT FORT BILLE 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 99 

he made us understand by some very unmistakable ges- 
tures that he had nothing to put in it. At first I pre- 
tended not to grasp his meaning, but, this insincerity 
being of no avail, I was obliged to make it plain to him 
that we had nothing to give him in the way of ammuni- 
tion. This intimation he received with a very disappointed 
and dejected air, and he went at once and put his rifle 
away. 

None of the others showed by the slightest token that 
they expected anything in return for their presents. They 
were all friendliness and hospitality, though no doubt 
there was a notion lurking somewhere in the background 
that their liberality would not prove unproductive, and, of 
course, we did not fail to fulfil our share of the transac- 
tion next day. The hospitality, indeed, of this desolate 
coast is quite unbounded. A man will receive his worst 
enemy, treat him well, and entertain him for months, if 
circumstances throw him in his way. The nature of their 
surroundings and the wandering life which they lead have, 
forced them to offer and accept universal hospitality, and 
the habit has gradually become a law among them. 

After we considered we had been long enough in the 
tent we went out into the fresh air again, and chose as our 
camping-ground for the night a flat ledge of rock close to 
the landing-place. We then began to bring our things 
ashore, but at once a crowd of natives rushed for our 
boats, and were soon busy moving our boxes and bags 
up on to the rocks. Every object caused an admiring 
outburst, and our willing helpers laughed and shouted in 
their glee, and altogether enjoyed themselves amazingly. 
The delight and admiration that greeted the big tin boxes 
in which much of our provender was packed were espe- 



loo HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

cially unmanageable, and the tins were each passed round 
from hand to hand, and every edge and corner carefully 
and minutely examined. 

As soon as the boats were empty we proposed to drag 
them up, but here again all insisted on giving their help. 
The painter was brought ashore, manned by a long line 
stretching far up the rocks, and the boats hauled up each 
by the united efforts of twenty or thirty men. This was 
splendid sport, and when one of us started the usual 
sailor's chorus to get them to work together, the enthusi- 
asm reached its height. 

They joined in, grown folk and children alike, and 
laughed till they could scarcely pull. They plainly 
thought us the most amusing lot of people they had ever 
seen. When the boats were safe ashore we proceeded to 
pitch our tent, an operation which engaged all their atten- 
tion, for nothing can interest an Eskimo so much as any 
performance which belongs to his own mode of life, such 
as the management of tents and boats and such things. 
Here their astonishment does not overcome them, for 
they can fully understand what is going on. In this 
case they could thus admire to the full the speedy way 
in which we managed to pitch our little tent, which was 
so much simpler a contrivance than their great compli- 
cated wigwams, though at the same time it was not so 
warm. 

Our clothes, too, and, above all, the Lapps' dress, came 
in for their share of admiration. The tall, square caps, 
with their four horns, and the tunics with their long, wide 
skirts and edging of red and yellow, struck them as most 
remarkable, but still more astonished were they, of course, 
in the evening, when the two Lapps made their appear- 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 



lOI 



ance in their reindeer-skin pelisses. All must needs go 
and feel them and examine them, and stroke the hair of 
this wonderful skin, nothing like which they had ever 
seen before. It was not seal-skin, it was not bear-skin, 
nor was it fox-skin. " Could it be dog-skin ? " they 
asked, pointing to their canine companions. When we 
explained that it was nothing of that kind they could get 
no further, for their powers of imagination had reached 




ESKIMOS, FROM THE CAMP AT CAPE BILLE 
(From a jihotograp]i) 

their limit. Balto now began to gibber and make some 
very significant movements with his hands about his 
head, with the idea of representing reindeer horns, but 
this awoke no response. Evidently they had never seen 
reindeer, which do not occur on that part of the east 
coast which they frequent. 



I02 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Then we distributed the evening rations, and ate our 
supper sitting at the tent-door, and surrounded by specta- 
tors. Men, women, and children stood there in a ring 
many ranks deep, closely watching the passage of every 
morsel of biscuit to our lips and its subsequent consump- 
tion. Though their mouths watered to overflowing at 
the sight of these luxuries, we were constrained to take 
no notice. We had no more in the way of bread than we 
actually needed, and, had we made a distribution through- 
out all this hungry crowd, our store would have been 
much reduced. But to sit there and devour one's biscuits 
under the fire of all their eyes was not pleasant. 

Our meal over, we went and had a look round the 
encampment. Down by the water were a number of 
" kaiaks " and a few specimens of the " umiak " or large 
skin-boat, which especially interested me. One of the 
men was particularly anxious to show me everything. 
Whatever caught my eye, he at once proceeded to ex- 
plain the use of by signs and gestures. Above all, he 
insisted on my examining his own " kaiak," which was 
handsomely ornamented with bone, and all his weapons, 
which were in excellent condition and profusely deco- 
rated. His great pride was his harpoon, which, as he 
showed me triumphantly, had a long point of narwhal 
tusk. He explained to me, too, very clearly the use of 
the throwing-stick, and how much additional force could 
be given to the harpoon by its help. Every Eskimo is 
especially proud of his weapons and " kaiak," and expends 
a large amount of work on their adornment. 

By this time the sun had set and the night fallen, and 
consequently the elements of weirdness and unreality 
which had all the time pervaded this scene, with its sur- 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 103 

roundings of snow and ice and curious human adjuncts, 
were now still more predominant and striking. Dark 
forms flitted backward and forward among the rocks, 
and the outlines of the women with their babies on their 
backs were especially picturesque. From every tent-door 
through the transparent curtain shone a red glow of light, 
which with its suggestions of warmth and comfort led the 
fancy to very different scenes. The resemblance to 
colored lamps and Chinese lanterns brought to one's 
mind the illuminated gardens and summer festivities 
away at home, but behind these curtains there lived a 
happy and contented race, quite as happy, perhaps, as 
any to which our thoughts turned across the sea. 

Then bed-time drew near, and the rest we sorely 
needed after the scanty sleep of the last few days. So 
we spread our sleeping-bags upon the tent-floor and be- 
gan the usual preparations. But here again our move- 
ments aroused the keenest interest, and a deep ring of 
onlookers soon gathered round the door. The removal 
of our garments was watched with attention by men and 
women alike, and with no sign of embarrassment, except 
on our part. Our disappearance one by one into the 
bags caused the most amusement, and when at last the 
expedition had no more to show than six heads, the door 
of the tent was drawn to and the final " Good-night " 
said. 

That night we could sleep free from care and without 
keeping watch, and it was a good night's rest we had, in 
spite of barking dogs and other disturbances. It was late 
when we woke and heard the Eskimos moving busily 
about outside. Peeping through the chinks of the door, 
we could see them impatiently pacing up and down, and 



104 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

waiting for the tent to be thrown open again that they 
might once more feast their eyes on all the marvels hid- 
den inside. We noticed to-day, and we supposed it was 
in our honor, that they were all arrayed in their best 
clothes. Their clean white frocks, made of the same thin 
membraneous skin as the tent curtains, shone as brilliantly 
as clean linen in the distance, as their wearers walked up 
and down and admired their own magnificence. Down 
by our boats, too, we saw a whole congregation, some 
sitting inside and others standing around. Every imple- 
ment and every fitting was handled and carefully scru- 
tinized, but nothing disturbed or injured. 

Then came the opening of the door, and forthwith a 
closely packed ring of spectators gathered around, head 
appearing above head, and row behind row, to see us 
lying in our bags, our exit thence, and gradual reinstate- 
ment in our clothes. Of all our apparel, that which 
excited most wonder and astonishment was a colored belt 
of Christiansen's, a belt resplendent with beads and huge 
brass buckle. This must needs be handled and examined 
by each and all in turn, and of course produced the usual 
concerted bellow. Then our breakfast of biscuits and 
water was consumed in the same silence and amid the 
same breathless interest as our supper of the night 
before. 

After breakfast we walked about the place, for we had 
determined to enjoy life for this one morning and see 
what we could of these people before we left them. I 
had tried, unnoticed, to take a photograph of the ring 
which thronged our tent-door, but as I brought the 
camera to bear upon the crowd some of them saw my 
manoeuvre, and a stampede began, as if they feared a 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 



105 



discharge of missiles or other sorcery from the apparatus. 
I now tried to catch a group who were sitting on the 
rocks, but again with the same result. So the only expe- 
dient was to turn my face away, and by pretending to be 




"OUTSIDE ONE LITTLE TENT I FOUND AN UNUSUALLY SOCIABLE WOMAN" 
{By E. Nielsen, from a photograph) 

otherwise engaged to distract the attention of my victims 
and meanwhile secure some pictures. 

Then I took a tour round the camping-ground with my 
camera. Outside one little tent, which stood somewhat 
isolated, I found an unusually sociable woman, apparently 
the mistress of the establishment. She was relatively 
young, of an attractive appearance altogether, with a smil- 
ing face and a pair of soft, obliquely set eyes, which she 
made use of in a particularly arch and engaging way. 
Her dress was certainly not elegant, but this defect was, 
no doubt, due to her established position as a married 



io6 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

woman, and must not be judged too harshly. In her 
" amaut," a garment which forms a kind of hood or bag 
behind, she had a swarthy baby, which she seemed very 
fond of, and which, hke many of the mothers, she did her 
best to induce to open its black eyes and contemplate my 
insignificance. This was partly, no doubt, the flattery of 
the coquette ; on the whole we got on very well together, 
and unperceived I secured several photographs. Then 
the master came out of the tent, and showed no sign of 
surprise at finding his wife in so close converse with a 
stranger. He had evidently been asleep, for he could 
hardly keep his eyes open in the light, and had to resort 
to a shade, or rather some big snow-spectacles of wood. 
He was a strongly-built man, with an honest, straightfor- 
ward look, was very friendly, and showed me a number of 
his things. He was especially proud of his " kaiak " hat, 
which he insisted on my putting on my head, while he 
meantime unceremoniously arrayed himself in my cap. 
This performance was little to my taste, as it was quite 
uncertain what would be the result of the exchange to me. 
Then he took me to see his big boat or " umiak," as well 
as other of his possessions, and we parted. 

I went on, and looked into some other tents. In one 
of them I found two girls who had just taken a big gull 
out of a cooking-pot, and were beginning to devour it, 
each at work with her teeth on one end of the body, and 
both beaming with delight and self-satisfaction. The bird 
still had most of its feathers on, but that did not seem to 
trouble them much. Perhaps, after the manner of the 
owl, they subsequently ejected them. 

Some of the women had noticed that the Lapps used 
the peculiar grass known as " sennegr^s," which the Eski- 



i 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 



107 



mos also use, in their boots, and they now brought each 
of us a huge supply of the commodity, smiling most co- 
quettishly as they made their offering. We expressed 
our thanks, of course, by an equally lavish display of 
smiles. Then they began to inquire, by means of signs, 
whether we had no needles to give them in return. I 
could have gratified them, certainly, since I had brought 
a number of these articles of barter, which are much 
prized on the east coast. But my 
real object was to keep them in 
case we had to spend the winter in 
these parts, in which case they would 
have proved invaluable. So I told 
them that we could not let them 
have any needles in exchange for 
their grass, and gave them instead 
a tin which had had preserved meat 
in. This made them simply wild 
with delight, and with sparkling 
eyes they went off to show the 
others their new acquisition. The 
grass came in very handy for the 
two Lapps, whose store was run- 
ning short, and without this grass 
in his shoes a Lapp is never thor- 
oughly comfortable. They had a 
deal to say, too, about this Eskimo 
" sennegraes." The fact that these people had sense 
enough to use the grass impressed Ravna and Balto to a 
certain extent, but they declared it had been gathered at 
the wrong time of year, being winter grass taken with 
the frost on it, instead of being cut fresh and then dried, 




THEN THE MASTER CAME 
OUT OF THE TENT " 

{From a photograph) 



io8 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

in accordance with the practice of rational beings. It 
was of little use to point out to them that it was not the 
habit of the Eskimo to lay up greater stores of such 
things than he actually needed to keep him going. 

But the time of our departure drew near, and we began 
by degrees to make our preparations. A man now came 
up to us and asked whether we were going northward. 
At our answer in the affirmative his face brightened 
amazingly, and it proved that he was bound in the same 
direction with his party, to whom he went at once and 
announced the news. The camp was now a scene of 
lively confusion, and, while we and the Eskimos vied with 
one another in our haste to strike our tents, launch our 
boats, and stow our goods, the dogs, who well knew what 
was in progress, expended their energy in a howling com- 
petition. 

As the tent we had spent the preceding evening in was 
going southward, it was necessary that we should go and 
make some return for the presents we had received. So 
with a number of empty meat-tins I went in and found a 
party of half-naked men taking a meal. I gave them one 
each, which delighted them hugely, and some of them 
at once showed their intention of using them as drinking- 
vessels. Outside I found the possessor of the rifle, who 
again urged upon me the fact that he had no ammunition 
for it. But when I presented him with a large tin instead 
he expressed perfect contentment and gratification. 

The great skin-tents were soon down and packed away 
in the boats. It was indeed quite astonishing to see the 
speed with which these Eskimos made ready for a journey 
with all their household goods and worldly possessions, 
though, of course, there were a great number of helping 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT 109 

hands. We had almost finished our preparations too, 
when a salt-box was pleased to discharge its contents in 
the middle of one of the provision-bags. This had to be 
seen to at once, and the Eskimos consequently started 
before us. Two of the boats set off on their southward 
journey, and two more presently disappeared behind the 
first point of rock to the north. The company of " kai- 
akers," however, were still left, as they stayed behind to 
bid each other a more tender farewell, before they parted, 
perhaps, for a separation of some years. This leave-tak- 
ing gave rise to one of the most comical scenes I have 
ever witnessed. There were altogether a dozen or more 
of their little canoes, and they all now ranged up side by 
side, dressed as evenly as a squad of soldiers. This ex- 
traordinary manoeuvre roused my attention, of course, and 
I could not imagine what it purported. I was not left 
long in ignorance, however, for the snuff-horns were pres- 
ently produced, and the most extravagant excesses fol- 
lowed. Their horns were opened and thrust up their 
noses again and again, till every nostril must have been 
absolutely filled with snuff. Several horns were in circu- 
lation, and each came at least twice to every man, so that 
the quantity consumed may well be imagined. I wanted 
to photograph them, but lost time and could not bring 
my camera to bear upon them before the line was broken, 
and some of the canoes already speeding away southward 
among the floes. 

This general treating with snuff is the mode in which 
the Eskimos take leave of one another, and is a very 
similar performance to the ceremonious dram-drinking 
among our peasants at home. In this particular case 
only those who had come from the south had anything to 



no NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

stand treat with. They were evidently fresh from the 
Danish colonies beyond Cape Farewell, as their abundant 
supply of snuff proved, while the others were probably 
bound south on a similar errand. These pilgrimages 
occur unfortunately too often, though their emporium lies 
at no trifling distance — a couple of years' journey, in 
fact, for those who live farthest up the coast. 

One would almost expect that so long a journey would 




THE LINE WAS BROKEN, AND SOME OF THE CANOES ALREADY SPEEDING 
AWAY SOUTHWARD AMONG THE FLOES " 
{From a photograph) 



be followed by a long stay at the place of business. Bui 
this is not the case, and the Eskimo, in fact, spends littl( 
more time over his periodical shopping than a lady of th( 
world over a similar, but daily, visit. In half an hour, oi 
an hour perhaps, he has often finished, and then disap] 
pears again on his long journey home. A shoppinj 
expedition of this kind will therefore often take four year^ 



AN ESKIMO ENCAMPMENT m 

at least, and consequently a man's opportunities in this 
way in the course of a lifetime are very limited. These 
are quite enough, however, to produce a mischievous 
effect. One is apt to suppose that it is the want of cer- 
tain useful things, otherwise unattainable, that urges them 
to these long journeys ; but this is scarcely so, for the real 
incentive is without doubt a craving for tobacco. As a 
matter of fact they do buy some useful things, like iron, 
which they get chiefly in the form of old hoops, but they 
really have a good supply of such things already, they do 
not use them much, and they are not absolutely necessary. 
Most of their purchases are things which are either alto- 
gether valueless or else actually injurious. 

Among the latter must especially be reckoned tobacco, 
which is the commodity of all others most desired, and 
which they take in the form of snuff. Smoking and 
chewing are unknown on this coast, but their absence is 
made up for by all the greater excess in snuff-taking, the 
indulgence in which is quite phenomenal. They buy 
their tobacco in the form of twist, and prepare it them- 
selves, by drying it well, breaking it up, and grinding it 
fine on stone. Powdered calcspar or quartz or other rock 
is often added to the snuff to make it go further, and to 
increase, it is said, the irritating effect upon the mucous 
membrane. 

In addition to tobacco they buy other things which 
certainly have an injurious effect upon them, such as, 
for instance, tea. Coffee, curiously enough, these people 
have not learned to like, though this drink is bliss celes- 
tial to the west-coast Eskimos. 

It is truly fortunate that they have no opportunity of 
getting spirits, as the sale is absolutely prohibited by the 



112 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Danish Government. Of other European products, they 
buy biscuits, flour, peas, which they are particularly fond 
of, and similar things. Articles of clothing, too, are in 
great demand, such as thick jerseys from the Faroe 
Islands, cotton stuffs for outer tunics, and material out of 
which they can make hats ; old European clothes are 
highly valued, and they have an idea that when they can 
dress themselves out in these worn-out rubbishy garments 
they cut a far fijier figure than when they content them- 
selves with their own warm and becoming dress of seal- 
skin. 

In exchange for such things, which are of little value 
to us and of still less real worth to them, they give fine 
large bear-skins, fox-skins, and seal-skins, which they 
ought to keep for their own clothes and the other nu- 
merous purposes for which they can be used. It is, of 
course, unnecessary to remark how much better it would 
be if these poor Eskimos, instead of decking themselves 
out in European rags, would keep their skins for them- 
selves, and confine themselves to those regions where 
they have their homes, instead of straying to the outskirts 
of European luxury and civilization. 

When the Eskimos have at length consumed their pur- 
chases and must needs return to the old manner of life, 
the net result is that they have lost a number of useful 
possessions and have acquired a feeling of want and long- 
ing for a number of unnecessary things. This is, in fact, 
the usual way that the blessings of civilization first make 
themselves felt upon the uncivilized. 



CHAPTER VII 1 

THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE THE FIRST SIGHT 

OF LAND AND FIRST DRINK OF WATER 

As the middle of September approached, we hoped 
every day to arrive at the beginning of the western slope. 
To judge from our reckoning it could not be far off, 
though I had a suspicion that this reckoning was some 
way ahead of our observations. These, however, I pur- 
posely omitted to work out, as the announcement that we 
had not advanced as far as we supposed would have been 
a bitter disappointment to most of the party. Their ex- 
pectations of soon getting the first sight of land on the 
western side were at their height, and they pushed on 
confidently, while I kept my doubts to myself and left 
the reckoning as it was. 

On September 1 1 the fall of the ground was just appre- 
ciable, the theodolite showing it to be about a third of a 
degree. On September 12 I entered in my diary that 
" we are all in capital spirits, and hope for a speedy 
change for the better, Balto and Dietrichson being even 
confident that we shall see land to-day. They will need 
some patience, however, as we are still 9,000 feet above 
the sea " (we were really about 8,250 feet that day), " but 
they will not have to wait very long. This morning our 
reckoning made us out to be about seventy-five miles 
from bare land, and the ground is falling well and con- 

1 From Nansen's Across Greenland. 



114 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

tinuously." The next day or two the slope grew more 
and more distinct, but the incHne was not regular, as the 
ground fell in great undulations, like those we had had 
to climb in the course of our ascent. 

On September 14 the reckoning showed that it was 
only about thirty-five miles to land. But even now we 
could see nothing, which the Lapps thought was very 
suspicious. Ravna's face began to get longer and longer, 
and one evening about this time he said, " I am an old 
Lapp, and a silly old fool, too ; I don't believe we shall 
ever get to the coast." I only answered, " That 's quite 
true, Ravna ; you are a silly old fool." Whereupon he 
burst out laughing: "So it's quite true, is it — Ravna is 
a silly old fool } " and he evidently felt quite consoled by 
this doubtful compliment. These expressions of anxiety 
on Ravna's part were very common. 

Another day Balto suddenly broke out : " But how on 
earth can any one tell how far it is from one side to the 
other, when no one has been across ? " It was, of course, 
difficult to make him understand the mode of calculation ; 
but, with his usual intelligence, he seemed to form some 
idea of the truth one day when I showed him the process 
on the map. The best consolation we could give Balto 
and Ravna was to laugh at them well for their cowardice. 

The very pronounced fall of the ground on September 1 
1 7 certainly was a comfort to us all, and when the ther- | 
mometer that evening just failed to reach zero we found i 
the temperature quite mild, and felt that we had entered | 
the abodes of summer again. It was now only nine miles |: 
or so to land by our reckoning. i 

It was this very day two months that we had left the |: 
Jason. This happened to be one of our butter-mornings, \ 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 115 

the very gladdest mornings of our existence at the time, 
and breakfast in bed with a good cup of tea brought the 
whole party into an excellent humor. It was the first 
time, too, for a long while that the walls of our tent had 
not been decorated with fringes of hoar-frost. As we 
were at breakfast we were no little astonished to hear, as 
we thought, the twittering of a bird outside ; but the 
sound soon stopped, and we were not at all certain of its 
reality. But as we were starting again after our one 
o'clock dinner that day we suddenly became aware of 
twitterings in the air, and, as we stopped, sure enough 
we saw a snow-bunting come flying after us. It wan- 
dered round us two or three times, and plainly showed 
signs of a wish to sit upon one of our sledges. But the 
necessary audacity was not forthcoming, and it finally 
settled on the snow in front for a few moments, before 
it flew away for good with another encouraging little 
twitter. 

Welcome, indeed, this little bird was. It gave us a 
friendly greeting from the land we were sure must now 
be near. The believers in good angels and their doings 
must inevitably have seen such in the forms of these two 
snow-buntings, the one which bade us farewell on the 
eastern side, and that which offered us a welcome to the 
western coast. We blessed it for its cheering song, and 
with warmer hearts and renewed strength we confidently 
went on our way, in spite of the uncomfortable knowledge 
that the ground was not falling by any means so rapidly 
as it should have done. In this way, however, things 
were much better next day, September 18; the cold con- 
sistently decreased, and life grew brighter and brighter. 
In the evening, too, the wind sprang up from the south- 



ii6 NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

east, and I hoped we should really get a fair sailing breeze 
at 'last. We had waited for it long enough, and sighed 
for it, too, in spite of Balto's assurances that this sailing 
on the snow would never come to anything. 

In the course of the night the wind freshened, and in 
the morning there was a full breeze blowing. Though, 
as usual, there was no great keenness to undertake the 
rigging and lashing together of the sledges in the cold 
wind, we determined, of course, to set about the business 
at once. Christiansen joined Sverdrup and me with his 
sledge, and we rigged the two with the tent-floor, while 
the other three put their two sledges together. 

All this work, especially the lashing, was anything but 
delightful, but the cruellest part of it all was that while 
we were in the middle of it the wind showed signs of 
dropping. It did not carry out its threat, however, and at 
last both vessels were ready to start. I was immensely 
excited to see how our boat would turn out, and whether 
the one sail was enough to move both the sledges. It 
was duly hoisted and made fast, and there followed a 
violent wrenching of the whole machine, but during the 
operations it had got somewhat buried in the snow and 
proved immovable. There was enough wrenching and 
straining of the mast and tackle to pull the whole to 
pieces, so we harnessed ourselves in front with all speed. 
We tugged with a will and got our boat off, but no sooner 
had she begun to move than the wind brought her right 
on to us, and over we all went into the snow. We were 
soon up again for another trial, but with the same result ; 
no sooner were we on our legs than we were carried off 
them again by the shock from behind. 

This process having been gone through a certain num- 



ft 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 117 

ber of times, we saw plainly that all was not right. So 
we arranged that one of us should stand in front on his 
ski and steer by means of a staff fixed between the two 
sledges, like the pole of a carriage, leaving himself to 
be pushed along by his vessel, and only keeping it at a 




FIRST ATTEMPTS AT SAILING 



respectful distance from his heels. The other two mem- 
bers of the crew were to come behind on their ski, 
either holding on to the sledges or following as best they 
could. 

We now finally got under way, and Sverdrup, who was 
to take the first turn at steering, had no sooner got the 
pole under his arm than our vessel rushed furiously off 
before the wind. I attached myself behind at the side, 
riding on my ski and holding on by the back of one of 
the sledges as well as I could. Christiansen thought this 
looked like too risky work, and came dragging along 
behind on his ski alone. 

Our ship flew over the waves and drifts of snow with a 
speed that almost took one's breatk away. The sledges 



ii8 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD • 

I 

struggled and groaned, and were strained in every joint 
as they were whirled over the rough surface, and often 
indeed they simply jumped from the crest of one wave on 
to another. I had quite enough to do to hang on behind 
and keep myself upright on the ski. Then the ground 
began to fall at a sharper angle than any we had had yet. 
The pace grew hotter and hotter, and the sledges scarcely 
seemed to touch the snow. Right in front of me was 
sticking out the- end of a ski, which was lashed fast across 
the two sledges for the purpose of keeping them together. 
I could not do anything to get this ski end out of the 
way, and it caused me a great deal of trouble, as it stuck 
out across the points of my own ski, and was always 
coming into collision with them. It was worst of all when 
we ran along the edge of a drift, for my ski would then 
get completely jammed, and I lost all control over them. 
For a long time I went on thus in a continual struggle 
with this hopeless ski end, while Sverdrup stood in front 
gayly steering and thinking we were both sitting comfort- 
ably on behind. Our ship rushed on faster and faster; 
the snow flew around us and behind us in a cloud, which 
gradually hid the others from our view. 

Then an ice-axe which lay on the top of our cargo 
began to get loose and promised to fall off. So I worked ' 
myself carefully forward, and was just engaged in making j 
the axe fast when we rode on to a nasty drift. This I 
brought the projecting ski end just across my legs, and ' 
there I lay at once gazing after the ship and its sail, 
which were flying on down the slope, and already show- \ 
ing dimly through the drifting snow. It made one quite 
uncomfortable to see how quickly they diminished in size. 
I felt very foolish to be left lying there, but at last I recov- 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 119 

ered myself and set off bravely in the wake of the vessel, 
which was by this time all but out of sight. To my great 
delight I found that, thanks to the wind, I could get on 
at a very decent pace alone. 

I had not gone far before I found the ice-axe, in trying 
to secure which I had come to grief. A little way farther 
on I caught sight of another dark object, this time some- 
thing square, lying in the snow. This was a box which 
contained some of our precious meat-chocolate, and which 
of course was not to be abandoned in this way. After this 
I strode gayly on for a long time in the sledge-track, with 
the chocolate-box under one arm and the ice-axe and my 




"and there I LAY GAZING AFTER THE SHIP AND ITS SAIL" 

staff under the other. Then I came upon several more 
dark objects lying straight in my path. These proved to 
be a fur jacket belonging to me, and no less than three 
pemmican boxes. I had now much more than I could 
carry, so the only thing to be done was to sit down and 
wait for succor from the others who were following be- 
hind. All that could now be seen of our proud ship and 
its sail was a little square patch far away across the snow- 
field. She was going ahead in the same direction as 



I20 N'ANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

before, but as I watched I suddenly saw her brought up 
to the wind, the tin boxes of her cargo ghtter in the sun, 
and her sail fall. Just then Christiansen came up with me, 
followed not long after by the other vessel. To them we 
handed over some of our loose boxes, but just as we were 
stowing them away Balto discovered that they had lost no 
less than three pemmican tins. These were much too val- 
uable to be left behind, so the crew had to go back and 
look for them. 

Meanwhile Christiansen and I started off again, each 
with a tin box under his arm, and soon overtook Sverdrup. 
We now sat down to wait for the others, which was not 
an agreeable job in this bitter wind. 

Sverdrup told us that he had sailed merrily off from the 
very start, had found the whole thing go admirably, and 
thought all the time that we two were sitting comfortably 
on behind. He could not see behind him for the sail, but 
after a long while he began to wonder why there was not 
more noise among the passengers in the stern. So he 
made an approach to a conversation, but got no answer. 
A little farther on he tried as^ain and louder, but with the 
same result. Then he called louder still, and lastly began 
to shout at the top of his voice, but still there was no 
response. This state of things needed further investiga- 
tion ; so he brought his boat up to the wind, went round 
behind the sail to see what was the matter, and was not 
a little concerned to find that both his passengers had 
disappeared. He tried to look back along his course 
through the drifting snow, and he thought he could see 
a black spot far away behind. This must have been my 
insignificant figure sitting upon the lost tin boxes. Then 
he lowered his sail, which was not an easy matter in 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 



i2i 



the wind that was blowing, and contented himself to wait 
for us. 

We had to sit a long time before the others caught us 
up again. We could just see the vessel through the snow, 
but her sail was evidently not up, and of her crew there 
was not a sign. At last we caught sight of three small 
specks far away up the slope and the glitter of the sun 




^ 



• SAILING ON THE INLAND ICE 



on the tins they were carrying. Presently the sail was 
hoisted, and it was not long before they joined us. 

We now lashed the sledges better together and made 
the cargo thoroughly fast, in order to escape a repetition 
of this performance. Then we rigged up some ropes be- 
hind, to which the crev/ could hold or tie themselves, and 
thus be towed comfortably along. In this way we got on 
splendidl)', and never in my life have I had a more glo- 
rious run on ski. 



122 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

A while later Sverdrup declared that he had had 
enough of steering, and I therefore took his place. We 
had now one good slope after another and a strong wind 
behind us. We travelled as we should on the best of 
ski hills at home, and this for hour after hour. The 
steering is exciting work. One has to keep one's tongue 
straight in one's mouth, as we say at home, and, whatever 
one does, take care not to fall. If one did, the whole 
conveyance wouTd be upon one, and once under the run- 
ners and driven along by the impetus, one would fare 
badly indeed, and be lucky to get off without a complete 
smash-up. This was not to be thought of, so it was 
necessary to keep one's wits about one, to hold the ski 
well together, grip the pole tight, watch the ground in- 
cessantly, so as to steer clear of the worst drifts, and for 
the rest take things as they came, while one's ski flew on 
from the crest of one snow-wave to another. 

Our meals were not pleasant intervals that day, and we 
therefore got through them as quickly as we could. We 
stopped and crept under shelter of the sails, which were 
only half lowered on purpose. The snow drifted over us 
as we sat there, but the wind at least was not so piercing 
as in the open. We scarcely halted for the usual choco- 
late distributions, and took our refreshment as we went 
alonof. 

In the middle of the afternoon — this notable day by 
the way was September 19 — just as we were sailing our 
best and fastest, we heard a cry of joy from the party be- 
hind, Balto's voice being prominent as he shouted " Land 
ahead ! " 

And so there was ; through the mist of snow, which 
was just now a little less dense, we could see away to the 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 123 

west a long, dark mountain ridge, and to the south of it 
a smaller peak. Rejoicings were loud and general, for 
the goal toward which we had so long struggled was at 
last in sight. 

Balto's own account of the occurrence runs as follows : 
" While we were sailing that afternoon I caught sight of 
a black spot a long way off to the west. I stared and 
stared at it till I saw that it really was bare ground. 
Then I called to Dietrichson, ' I can see land ! ' Die- 
trichson at once shouted to the others that Balto could 
see land away to the west. And then we rejoiced to see 
this sight, which we had so often longed to see, and new 
courage came into our hearts, and hope that we should 
now happily and without disaster cross over this ice- 
mountain, which is the greatest of all ice-mountains. If 
we had spent many more days upon the ice, I fear that 
some of us would have fared badly. As soon as Nansen 
heard this he stopped and gave us two pieces of meat- 
chocolate each. It was always our custom, when we 
reached a spot which we had long wished to reach, to 
treat ourselves to the best food we had. So when we 
came to land after drifting in the ice, when we reached 
Umivik, when we had climbed to the highest point of 
Greenland, when we now first saw land on the west side, 
and lastly, when we first set foot upon bare ground again, 
we were treated to our very best — which was jam, 
American biscuits, and butter." 

Though this first land we saw lay a little to the north 
of the line we had hitherto been following, I steered for 
it nevertheless, because the ice in this direction seemed to 
fall away more rapidly. However, the point was soon 
hidden in the snow again, and we went on with the wind 



124 N'ANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

straight behind us for the rest of the afternoon without 
getting any further sight of land. The wind grew 
stronger and stronger, we flew down slope after slope, 
and everything went famously. 

A while later both the gradient and the wind slackened 
off for a time, but as evening began the breeze freshened 
and the slope grew steeper, and we rushed along through 
the dense driving snow more furiously than ever. It was 
already growing dusk, when I suddenly saw in the gen- 
eral obscurity something dark lying right in our path. I 
took it for some ordinary irregularity in the snow, and 
unconcernedly steered straight ahead. The next mo- 
ment, when I was within no more than a few yards, I 
found it to be something very different, and in an instant 
swung round sharp and brought the vessel up to the 
wind. It was high time, too, for we were on the very 
edge of a chasm broad enough to swallow comfortably 
sledges, steersman, and passengers. Another second and 
we should have disappeared for good and all. We now 
shouted with all our might to the others, who were com- 
ing gayly on behind, and they managed to luff in time. 

Here also Balto has something to say : " The same 
evening while we were still sailing along — it may have 
been about half -past seven and it was rather dark — we 
saw Nansen, who was in front on his ski, signalling 
wildly to us, while he shouted, ' Don't come here ; it is 
dangerous ! ' We, who were tearing along at full speed, 
found it difficult to stop, and had to swing around and 
throw ourselves on our sides. At the same time we saw 
in front of us an awful crack in the ice, which was many 
hundred feet deep." 

As to the rest of the day's sail my diary says : " This 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 125 




SAILING IN MOONLIGHT. " WHEN THE SNOW LOOKED TREACHEROUS I HAD TO 
GO CAUTIOUSLY AND USE MY STAFF " 



was the first crevasse, but was not likely to be the only 
one, and we must now go warily. It was suggested that 
it was hardly advisable to sail any farther that evening, 
but I thought it too early to stop yet, as we must take 
advantage of the wind. So I left the sledges and went 
on in front to reconnoitre, while Sverdrup undertook the 
steering of our boat, and the sails of both of them were 
taken in a bit. The wind was strong enough even to 
blow me along, and I could run long stretches without 
moving a muscle, and so covered the ground fast. 

" When the snow looked treacherous I had to go 
cautiously and use my staff to see whether I had solid 
ground under foot, and, if not, to signal to the others to 
wait till I had found a safer route. In spite of all precau- 
tions, Sverdrup and Christiansen all but came to grief 
once, as the snow fell in behind them just as they had 
passed over an unsuspected crevasse. Meantime the 



126 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

wind was steadily increasing, and the sails had to be 
taken in more and more to prevent the sledges overrun- 
ning me. As we were all getting hungry, biscuits were 
served out, but no halt was made to eat them. 

"It was rapidly getting dark, but the full moon was now 
rising, and she gave us light enough to see and avoid the 
worst crevasses. It was a curious sight for me to see the 
two vessels coming rushing along behind me, with their 
square viking-like- sails showing dark against the white 
snow-field and the big round disc of the moon behind. 

" Faster and faster I go flying on, while the ice gets 
more and more difiBcult. There is worse still ahead, I can 
see, and in another moment I am into it. The ground is 
here seamed with crevasses, but they are full of snow and 
not dangerous. Every now and then I feel my staff go 
through into space, but the cracks are narrow and the 
sledges glide easily over. Presently I cross a broader one, 
and see just in front of me a huge black abyss. I creep 
cautiously to its edge on the slippery ice, which here is 
covered by scarcely any snow, and look down into the 
deep, dark chasm. Beyond it I can see crevasse after cre- 
vasse, running parallel with one another, and showing 
dark blue in the moonlight. I now tell the others to stop, 
as this is no ground to traverse in the dark, and we must 
halt for the night. 

"In the west we could now see land again aarainst the 
evening sky, which still shows a faint trace of day. They 
were the same mountains we had first seen, but they now 
tower high above the horizon, and to the south of these 
peaks again there is a long ridge of rock protruding from 
the snow. 

" It was a difficult business to get the tent up in this 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 127 

strong wind, and on the hard, slippery ice, which gave no 
hold for our guy-ropes, and we had to cut deep holes 
before we could make our staffs do duty as pegs. At last, 
after having fared worse than usual with the cold, we got 
the tent up and were able to crawl into a partial shelter. 
No one was inclined to do any cooking that evening, as 
even inside the tent the wind was much too aggressive, 
and the little feast which was to do honor to the day, and 
which we had much looked forward to, was put off till 
next morning. So we were content to divide our last 
piece of Gruyere cheese, and then, well pleased with our- 
selves and our day's work, creep into our sleeping-bags. 
I now discovered for the first time that I had got the fin- 
gers of both my hands frozen during the afternoon's sail. 
It was too late now to rub them with snow, as they had 
begun to thaw on their own account, but that night the 
pain they gave me was almost unendurable, till I fell 
asleep in spite of it." 

Early next morning, September 20, I started up with 
the consciousness that I had forgotten to wind my watch 
up over-night. Unluckily Sverdrup had done exactly the 
same, and though we wound them both up at once it was 
now too late. This was, of course, rather unfortunate for 
our longitude observations, but we were now so near land 
that we could reckon our position with tolerable exacti- 
tude nevertheless. 

When we looked out of the tent we could see the whole 
country to the south of Godthaabsfjord lying spread out 
before us, a rough mountainous tract with many deep val- 
leys and lofty peaks. Those who remember their first 
sight of a mountain landscape in their childhood, with its 
sunlit peaks and stretches of glittering snow ; who can 



128 JVANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

remember how this new mysterious world fascinated and 
aUured them — they will understand what our feelings 
were this morning. We were just like children, as we sat 
and gazed, and followed the lines of the valleys down- 
ward in the vain search for a glimpse of the sea. It was 
a fine country that lay before us, wild and grand as the 
western coast of Norway. Fresh snow lay sprinkled about 
the mountain tops, between which were deep black gorges. 
At the bottom gf these were the fjords, which we could 
fancy, but could not see. A journey to Godthaab in this 
kind of country looked anything but a simple matter. 

We enjoyed our grand breakfast at our ease and leisure 
this morning, made tea unlimited, and simply revelled in 
cheese and oatmeal biscuits. It was glorious to have a 
treat like this once in a way. The morning was well gone 
before we got finally on the move. In the darkness of 
the evening before we had sailed into some very rough fis- 
sured ice, and we now had to bear away to the south to 
avoid the worst crevasses and reach smoother ground. The 
snow throughout this day's march was partly blown into 
drifts, especially where there was any unevenness in the 
ice to catch it, and partly swept away by the wind, leaving 
the surface slippery and bare. 

Presently we reached the top of a long, steep slope 
which had to be descended. Sverdrup and I started dow^n 
on our ski and had a fine run. But our sledge was dif- 
ficult to steer, and we had huge crevasses on each side, so 
at last we were constrained to take our ski Qff for safety's, 
sake. We then went on, standing each on a runner of 
the sledge, and scraping and breaking with our feet in 
order to keep clear of the crevasses. The Lapps during 
this run were especially reckless, and let their sledge rush 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 129 

ahead much as it pleased. A little farther down we came 
upon a flat piece of ice, which was so slippery that it was 
quite difficult to cross. It looked like the frozen surface 
of a lake or pool. Beyond this we found ourselves in 
some nasty ice again, and after I had fallen through the 
snow several times I thought it best to put the ski on 
again. With them one is of course much safer, as when 
one slides across the narrower crevasses their great length 



COASTING DOWN THE SLOPES 



will generally hold one up. At this time we had a nasty 
experience, as our sledge came lengthways upon a cre- 
vasse, the snow-cornice of which gave way under one of 
the runners, and we only managed to drag it on to firm 
ground just as the whole mass of snow was falling in be- 
neath it. Ravna and Balto nearly got into a worse scrape 
once, when they tried to take a short cut instead of follow- 
ing our course. They slid down on to a huge wide fissure, 
whereupon one of the runners cut straight through the 
snow and all but upset the sledge, and it was only by the 
skin of their teeth that they escaped. I was furiously 



13 o NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

angry with them, of course, and rated them well for not 
being content to let us who went in front run such risks 
as were necessary. Christiansen, too, was once on the 
point of losing his sledge in much the same way. 

In the afternoon we had a hailstorm from the south and 
southeast. The hail stung our faces and the wind contin- 
ually blew the sledges around, so that hauling became hard 
and difficult work. In this respect Sverdrup and I were 
worst off, as our^load was very bulky and lay high on the 
sledge, which therefore exposed a large surface to the 
wind. The steel bars or keels under the runners would 
here have been an advantage, but they had long ago given 
way on the rough ice of the east coast. 

We stopped for the day on a little flat, on which there 
was just enough drifted snow to hold our staffs, and the 
pitching of the tent was thus a simple matter. We had 
flattered ourselves that we should come within very easy 
distance of land, if not reach it altogether, this evening, 
and we were considerably disappointed when it seemed 
to us at the end of the day that we were almost as far off 
as ever. 

Next day, September 21, snow was falling, and we 
could see nothing either of the land or the ice around us. 
We had to grope our way as best we could, and there 
was no possibility of choosing the most advantageous 
course. 

Toward noon we stopped in order to get an observa- 
tion, if it were possible, as the sun now and again showed 
through the clouds. It was most important that we 
should know where we were, and the day before I had 
been too late for the purpose, having made a mistake 
about the time owing to my omission to wind my watch 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 131 

up. Luckily this time the sun was visible for a while, 
and I was able to get the altitude, my reckoning putting 
us at about lat. 64° 13' N. This position was a little 
more northerly than I should have liked, the reason being 
that I had, as I have said, steered too much to the north 
as we were sailing after we came within sight of land. 
As it will appear, we now had to pay some days' jDcnalty 
for the mistake. If we had kept our original more south- 
erly course, we should probably have been able to sail 
right down on to the land itself. 

We now, therefore, turned more to the south when we 
set off again. In the course of the afternoon Sverdrup 
and I had a disagreement as to our best route — a thing 
which rarely happened. He wanted to take us more to 
the right up on to a ridge, as he had through the snow 
seen crevasses down below in front of us. I had seen 
nothing of the kind, and preferred to keep away to the 
left ; but after some discussion Sverdrup prevailed, and 
we climbed the ridge, but only to find ourselves in the 
middle of some terrible crevasses. They were worse 
than any we had hitherto had to deal with, and we were 
very glad to clear out again and bear away more to the 
south. Here we found a tolerably smooth stretch of ice 
forming the bottom of a valley between two ridges, which 
were both quite a network of fissures. This alley or fur- 
row narrowed in front of us, and ended in a defile, where 
the two ridges almost met. Here there was an abrupt 
fall in the ground, and the ice was uncomfortably rough. 
The place looked all but impracticable, and it was clearly 
no use trying to push on any farther while the weather 
was so thick. It seemed very likely that we had come 
too far already. 



132 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

So it was settled that Dietrichson, Ravna, and Balto 
should pitch the tent, while Sverdrup, Christiansen, and I 
should 2:0 down and see whether this broken ice would 
allow of a passage. Balto in his quality of under-cook 
was told to set the apparatus going, and have everything 
ready by the time we came back — some good pea-soup 
and plenty of hot water in the upper vessel, so that we 
could have some lemon-grog after supper. 

We three sogn had the Alpine rope round our waists 
and set off downward. The ice was unusually rough 
and hard to pass, a simple chaos of sharp edges with fis- 
sures in between ; but it was not dangerous, as the clefts 
were as a rule not deep. 

We had not gone far before, to my astonishment, I saw 
a little dark spot down below us between some ridges 
covered with snow. It looked amazingly like water, but 
it was quite possible that it was only ice, so I said nothing 
to the others. But when I reached it and, putting my 
staff in, met with no resistance, our surprise and delight 
were quite unbounded. We threw ourselves down, put 
our lips to the surface, and sucked up the water like 
horses. After a month of incessant thirst and limited 
rations, the pleasure of having abundance of drink was 
indescribable. How many quarts we swallowed I should 
not like to say, but we plainly felt ourselves swell within 
and without during the operation. We then went on 
refreshed, but before we had gone far we heard some one 
shouting behind, and saw little Ravna running after us 
as fast as his short legs would carry him. We waited, 
fearing that there was something wrong in the camp, and 
I was much relieved to hear, when he came up, that all 
he wanted was the wicks for the spirit-lamp, which I usu- 



i 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 133^ 

ally carried in my pocket to keep them dry. I was anx- 
ious to know whether he had seen the water, for Ravna 
was the worst of all of us to drink when he had the 
chance, and I was half afraid that he would go at it till 
he made himself ill. He had seen the water, he told us, 
but had not had time to attend to it as he came down, 
though he meant to make up for the omission on the way 
back. 

So we sent him off again and went on with our explora- 
tion. We presently found ourselves among the roughest 
ice I had ever seen, and all that I knew of from Captain 
Jensen's descriptions was nothing compared to this. 
Absolutely impassable it was not, but ridge upon ridge, 
each sharper and more impracticable than its neighbor, 
lay in all directions, while between them were deep clefts, 
often half full of water, which was covered with a thin skin 
of ice not strong enough to bear. 

Darkness w^as already coming on when w^e finally 
turned homeward. We were wretchedly done up by 
having to toil over this rough ground, on which the soft 
snow lay deep in places, and w^ere much comforted when 
we at last caught sight of the tent in the distance. As 
we passed the pool again we must needs have another 
drink. We lay down and let the water fairly flow down 
our throats. Our foreheads grew numb and cold, but 
that did not stop us. It was a truly divine pleasure to be 
able once more to drink to the very end of one's thirst. 
A cheering smell of good pea-soup met us as we entered 
our little tent, where w^e found the others squatting around 
the cooking machine. Balto had everything hot and 
ready for us, and was very proud of having carried out 
his orders to the letter. 



134 HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

His description, too, will serve to tell us what the rest 
of the party did while we were away. 

" The other three went off with a rope round their 
waists to look for a way, while we — that is, Ravna, Die- 
trichson, and I — stayed behind to put up the tent. I 
had to make some pea-soup, too, for I was cook. So 
I got the machine out, but then found that there were 
no wicks, as Nansen had them in his pocket. So I sent 
Ravna off to ^'z± them, and when he came back he said 
he had found water and drunk his stomach full. When 
I heard this I caught up a tin box and ran as hard as I 
could go till I reached the pool. Then I threw myself 
down and began to drink. I had to lift my head up now 
and then to get breath, and then I went on drinking 
again. It tasted just like fresh, sweet milk, for we had 
not had any water for a whole month. Then I filled the 
tin and carried it up to the tent, and when Dietrichson 
saw it he lay down and drank till he could not hold any 
more. The tin was a very big one, but there was only 
just enough left for the pea-soup afterward. We found 
plenty of water every day after this." 

I am sure we all remember September 21, when we 
first found water. I really think it was one of the best 
days of the whole expedition. 

Balto's fragrant soup was soon served out, and we set 
to work upon our supper with more than usual keenness, 
which means considerably more than it seems to say. 
Even Ravna could eat that night. He used to declare he 
never could make a good meal because there was not 
enough to drink. This used to induce him to save up 
his rations, and he would often annoy us, and make our 
mouths water fruitlessly, by bringing out four or five 



THE CROSSING OF THE INLAND ICE 



135 



spare biscuits at a time to show us. The truth probably 
was that his httle body did not need as much food as our 
larger ones. 

After supper we had lemon-grog, which consisted of 
citric acid, oil of lemon, sugar and hot water, a compound 
which to our tastes was nothing short of nectar, and 
which we sipped and enjoyed to the utmost as we lay in 
our sleeping-bags. For my own part it was a long time 
since I had been so tired. The laborious wading in the 
deep, fresh snow had tried my legs severely, and I do not 
fancy that the others were much better. But an evening 
like this in the tent brings a feeling of comfort and grati- 
tude upon one, and a veil of forgetfulness is gently and 
soothingly drawn over all the pains and tribulations of the 
day. 

A candle-end — the last we have — has been lighted 
for supper. This over, and all our preparations for the 
morrow made, we put out our light, bury our heads well 
beneath the hoods of the sleeping-bags, and pass swiftly 
and lightly over into the region of dreams. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKFJORD ^ 

Before breakfast on September 22, while Balto was 
making the tea/Sverdrup and I chmbed the ridge of ice 
which lay to the south of the tent for a reconnaissance. 
It was seamed with broad crevasses of unfathomable 
depth, most of them running parallel. Once I fell through 
a snow-bridge, but the fissure was so narrow that I could 
keep my hold on both its sides, and after some amount of 
struggling I managed to extricate myself. From the top 
of the ridge we had a fine view over the surrounding ice, 
and could see that our best course would probably be to 
keep a westerly direction for the present and turn south- 
ward again lower down. As far as we can see, in front 
of us the ice seems to lie in fissured ridges, which all run 
westward toward Godthaabsfjord. We had been in doubt 
as to what valley or fjord the depression right before us 
could be, but we could now see that it must be Kan- 
gersunek. Altogether we were able to make out our 
whereabouts very well, and it was quite plain that we had 
come down four or five miles farther to the north than we 
had meant. 

We found breakfast ready when we got back to the 
tent, and afterward it was settled that Sverdrup and I 
should go out again and explore the ice to the west, keep- 
ing to the north of the part we examined the previous 

^ From Nansen's Across Creenlaiid. 



THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKpyORD 



137 




AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT 



evening. The others meanwhile must follow us with the 
four sledges as far as they could in the same direction, 
and, if they could get so far, stop at the last ridge we 
could see from here. As they had a fair wind behind 
them, I thought they would be able to manage a sledge 
each without much difficulty. 

So Sverdrup and I started off, and with the wind be- 



138 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

hind us ran fast down on our slippery oak ski. The 
ground was fairly easy till we came far enough to see 
down into the fjord, which was full of floating glacier-ice. 
Then the crevasses began, but at first they ran parallel, 
and we pushed a good way farther on. But presently 
things became utterly hopeless, a simple network of inter- 
lacing fissures, the ice protruding in small square islands 
from the midst of the blue abysses. Even the fancy could 
form no idea of the depth of these chasms, and the sight 
of the riven and chaotic mass was unearthly in the ex- 
treme. Not a step farther could we go ; there was nothing 
for us to do but eat our dinner and go back to look for 
the others. We found shelter in a little crevice, where 
the sun did its best to comfort us and temper the keen- 
ness of the biting wind. 

On the way back I had the ill-luck to fall into a cre- 
vasse. I was left hanging by my arms, and the position 
was neither easy nor pleasant. The fissure was narrow 
indeed, but it was very difficult to get a footing with my 
ski on the slippery edges. I was alone, too, as Sverdrup 
had taken a different line, and, being a long way on 
in front, saw nothing of my disaster. However, after 
struggling for a while, I at last managed to scramble out 
by myself. Strangely enough, none of us ever went far- 
ther into these crevasses than to the armpits. 

We had not gone far before we caught sight of the 
tent, which lay a little way to the north of us and on the 
very ridge where the party had been ordered to halt. 
They had reached this point about half an hour before, 
and the coffee was already under way. I must explain 
that we were now so near the coast that the coffee pro- 
hibition was not so stringently observed. It was not 



THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKFJORD 



139 




ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 2^: ROUGHISH ICE 



quite ready, and a short rest after our little ski excursion 
did us good. After we had finished our coffee the tent 
was struck, and we set off in a southerly direction in 
order to skirt the ice-stream which flowed down to the 
fjord, and in the middle of which we had just been. At 
first the ground was easy and we made good progress, 
though the wind did its best to hinder us by blowing the 
sledges around. In the evening, when it was already 
growing dusk, we reached a ridge of nasty, broken ice, 
which we had seen in the distance that morning, and which 
there seemed to be no way of avoiding. It was necessary 
to explore the ground here before moving any farther, 
and so there was nothing to be done but encamp and 
wait for daylight. While supper was preparing two of us 
went out again. The ice was undeniably awkward, but 
with enterprise we could no doubt get through. The 



140 



NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



ridge was luckily not broad, and the best route was evi- 
dently the straightest and shortest. 

Next morning, September 23, Sverdrup went out upon 
another prospecting expedition, and came back with com- 
paratively reassuring intelligence. The ice was not so 
bad as it had seemed to be at first sight, and it would be 
possible, if we put three men to each sledge, to get them 
along without carrying them. 

Then we broke up camp and set out upon the heaviest „ 




REST AND REFLECTION (SEPTEMBER 2j) 
(By the Author .from a photograph^ 



bit of ice-travelling which we had yet had. In many 
places we had to carry each sledge bodily up the steep 
slopes of the ridges we had to cross, while as we de- 
scended the other side the unfortunate man who went 
behind had to hold it back with all his might. If he 



THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKFJORD 141 

slipped, down went he and the sledge on to the heels of 
the others in front, and the whole group slid on together. 
Often, however, we were lucky enough to hit upon the 
course of a frozen river, which gave us an easy though 
somewhat winding passage among the hummocks and 









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ON THE AFTERNOON OF SEPTEMBER 23: INTO BETTER ICE AGAIN 

ridges of ice, which often formed cliffs with nearly per- 
pendicular walls. In one case we had to pass through a 
narrow cleft which only just gave us room, and at the 
bottom held a little stream only partially frozen, the water 
of which stood well above our ankles. 

In the afternoon we at last passed out of the worst 
of the ice, and could again take the sledges singly. The 
surface was now tolerably good, and it grew still better, 
but the wind was awkward, as it was always blowing the 
sledges around. A good way farther on I discovered a 
moraine running across the ice in an easterly direction 



142 NANSEN IN- THE FROZEN WORLD 

from the land. I imagined that this moraine must mark 
the Hmit between the streams of ice, more especially be- 
cause it lay in a depression, and as I could not see any 
good in getting into the full current of another ice-stream, 
I determined to work down toward land on the north 
side of the moraine. We now halted, and the tent having 
been pitched and Balto sent out to look for water for the 
coffee, Sverdrup and I set off downward toward the 
land to see whether the ice were practicable here. We 
had not gone far before we saw that our opportunity had 
come. We seemed to have crossed to the south side of 
the stream of ice which fell into Godthaabsf jord, for the 
surface seemed to fall away to the south, or more cor- 
rectly toward the land which lay straight before us. We 
went back with the encouraging news, and the whole 
party drank their coffee in the highest spirits. The 
prospect of once more feeling dry land beneath our feet 
was now not far off, and this was enough to fill us with 
delight. As soon as we could we went on again, and 
with the wind behind us made good progress, the ice 
being relatively smooth and yet often falling rapidly. We 
were disappointed, however, in our hope of reaching land 
that evening, as, owing to the gathering darkness, we 
presently had to stop. But on the whole we were more 
than satisfied with the day's work, as we had advanced a 
good deal farther than we had had any reason to hope in 
the morning. 

Next day, September 24, we turned out early and set ! 
off with the determination to reach land that day. This 1 
time, too, we were not disappointed. We pushed on fast, \ 
as the gradient was often tolerably steep and gave us 1 
much help. The wind was fair, too, the ice easy, and j 



THE DESCENT TO AMERALIKFJORD 143 

everything promising. Some way down a reconnaissance 
proved necessary, as the ice here got rather rougher. I 
went on in front and soon found myself upon the brow of 
an ice-slope which overlooked a beautiful mountain tarn, 
the surface of which was covered with a sheet of ice. 
Beyond was a gorge through which a river from the tarn 




UPON THE BROW OF AN ICE-SLOPE WHICH OVERLOOKED A BEAUTIFUL MOUN- 
TAIN TARN " 
(By A . Block, from a photograph) 

ran downward, while to the right the great glacier sloped 
evenly down to its end moraine, and would have formed 
the most magnificent coasting-hill imaginable, but for the 
stones that lay scattered over its surface. Here was an 
easy descent for us, and no obstacles to separate us from 
our goal. I soon had the whole party by me, and we 
stood enjoying the sight of the land below. After I had 



144 NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

taken a couple of photographs, we set off down the last 
ice-slope. It was steep, steeper perhaps than any we had 
run down before, and we had to use our brakes ; but the 
sledges went gayly, and soon we were safe and well upon 
the frozen tarn below the glacier, with the inland ice 
forever left behind. 

We now pushed across the tarn toward the river on 
the other side. The ice was not everywhere quite safe, 
but by moving carefully we reached the rocks beyond 
without mishap, took off the " crampoons " which we had 
been using the last few days, and, like schoolboys released, 
ran wildly about the shore. Words cannot describe what 
it was for us only to have the earth and stones again be- 
neath our feet, or the thrill that went through us as we 
felt the elastic heather on which we trod, and smelled 
the fragrant scent of grass and moss. Behind us lay the 
inland ice, its cold, gray slope sinking slowly toward 
the lake ; before us lay the genial land. Away down the 
valley we could see headland beyond headland, covering 
and overlapping each other as far as the eye could reach. 
Here lay our course, the way down to the fjord. 




THE BOAT AND ITS BUILDER 



CHAPTER IX 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



Next morning, September 29, we carried the boat down 
to the water. It was desperate work plodding along with 
it through this sticky sand, in which our feet sank deep, 
and fixed themselves, and wheezed like the piston of an 
air-pump as we palled them out again at each step. But 
at last we reached the water's edge, and set the boat 
down, to go back and get the rest of our things. There 
were any number of gulls down here, and we had looked 
forward to the prospect of a supply of fresh meat ; but, 
unfortunately, they kept at a respectful distance, and we 
had no chance of a shot. When we got back to our 
camping-place, we came to the conclusion that we had 
had quite enough of the sands, and determined to carry 



^ From Nansen's Across Greenland. 



10 



146 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

the other things over the higher ground, rough and diffi- 
cult though it was. 

When we got down to the shore again, we saw that the 
boat was now afloat a long way out in the water, as, while 
we had been away, the fjord had risen to such an extent 
as to flood all the outer part of the sands. Luckily Sverd- 
rup had been thoughtful enough to moor her fast by 
driving a stake into the ground, though we had left her so 
far from the edge -of the water that we thought she was 
quite safe. He now waded out to her, and rowed her in 
to a point of land close by, while I moved the baggage to 
meet him at the same spot. Thus, at last, after a day's 
labor, we had overcome one more obstacle, and were ready 
to embark on a good sea-way. 

After we had had our dinner we set out upon our first 
voyage, our destination being the farther side of the fjord, 
along which we meant to coast on our way outward. We 
discovered at once that our boat travelled much better 
than we had expected. She did not prove to be a fast 
craft, certainly, but we could get along in her, and reached 
the other side of the fjord after what we considered to be 
a remarkably quick passage. Nor was water-tightness one 
of our boat's virtues, for we had to take to baling with one 
of the soup-bowls about ever}?- ten minutes. 

Just here, the head of the fjord formed a little bay or 
inlet, which seemed to us, in our present state of mind, an 
unusually attractive spot. It ended in a peaceful, gentle 
valley — a valley of long, brown slopes and stretches of 
moss and stones, and skirted by low, round hills ; just the 
ground that is most welcome to the reindeer and his pur- 
suer. Our interests still centred in all that we could con- 
nect with food and the pursuit of game, and the more 




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Map showing Nansen's Route across Greenland (from Umivik to Godthaab, — just below the Arctic Circle) ; also 
Peary's and Astrup's expedition (from Smith Sound to Independence Bay and return across tlie iSoth parallel) 



148 NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

poetic reader must forgive us. To us, at this time, this 
was the most beautiful side of Nature ; and for her true 
beauty — the lofty peaks, the snow-clad mountains, the 
precipitous cliffs, and all the glories of barrenness, glories 
of which Ameralikfjord has enough and to spare — we 
had no eyes of appreciation. Such delights are for that 
true lover of Nature, the tourist, as he wanders among 
them on his comfortable steamer, with abundance of warm 
clothing and good food. 

Then we worked along the stupendous cliffs which 
form the northern shore of Ameragdla, as the inmost 
branch of Ameralikfjord is called, and stopped for the 
night at a spot where we could land our boat and find flat 
ground enough to sleep upon — accommodation not to be 
procured everywhere. We had not advanced much that 
day, but we were quite satisfied, and very pleased to be on 
the sea once more. Our chief delight, however, was the 
prospect of eating our fill of good fresh meat after nearly 
seven weeks of the driest of food. During our row I had 
shot six big blue gulls. At first I missed several times, 
as the birds kept out of range, but at last one ventured 
nearer, and then I had no further trouble. Gulls, as most 
people know, are inquisitive birds ; so when I had thrown 
one dead body out to float, the others must needs come 
to look at it, and I brought down one after the other, and 
stocked our larder for the time. 

These gulls are big birds, and we determined to have 
two apiece for our evening meal. They were skinned, 
put two at a time into boiling water, and cooked as little 
as possible. Sverdrup was afterward asked whether he 
took care to clean them properly. " Oh, I don't know," 
he answered ; " I saw Nansen pull something out of them, 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



149 



and I suppose it was part of the inside ; and some more 
came out in the pot while they were cooking. All I can 
say is, I never tasted better birds in my life." And he 




SHOOTING GULLS FROM THE BOAT 
(,By A. Block, after photograph and sketch) 

was quite right : we both thought we had never had any- 
thing which could be compared with those gulls ; the ten- 
derest of chickens could not have been better. Whether 
the cause lay in our appetites, or the peculiar method of 
preparation, I will not attempt to decide. We looked for 
no reason at the time, but tore our birds in pieces as fast 
as teeth and fingers would allow. It was not long before 



I50 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

the first two had disappeared, and then we set to work 
upon the second with greater dehberation and more pro- 
longed enjoyment. We finished with the broth in which 
they had all been boiled. This had a very characteristic, 
gamey taste, which added much to its peculiarity, though 
we were not quite certain to what we should attribute its 
origin. 

Language, in fact, has no words which can adequately 
describe the satisfaction of the two savages who sat that 
evening on the northern shore of Ameragdla, and dipped 
each his hands into the pot, fished out the body of a gull, 
and conveyed it, piece by piece, head, feet, and all, into 
the depths of his hungry stomach. The light of the fire 
meanwhile was almost dimmed by the brighter glory of 
the northern lights. The whole heaven blazed, both north 
and south ; the lights swept onward, and then returned 
again ; and suddenly a whirlwind seemed to pass across 
the sky, driving the flames before it, and gathering them 
together at the zenith, where there was a sparkling and 
a crackling as of burning fire, which almost dazzled the 
eyes of the onlooker. Then the storm seemed tp cease, 
the light died slowly away, there was nothing left but a 
few hazy flecks, which sailed across the starlit sky as we 
stood there still gazing. Such a display of northern lights 
I have never seen, either before or since. And there, be- 
low us, lay the fjord, cold and impassive, dark and deep, 
and girt round about by steep walls of rock and towering 
mountains, the familiar fjord landscape of the west of 
Norway. 

Next day things did not go quite so well with us, as in 
the course of the morning a head-wind sprang up, which 
blew so hard that, instead of making progress, we were 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



151 



almost driven backward, and our little cockle-shell danced 
up and down upon the waves to such an extent that there 
seemed every chance of our capsizing. She proved a 
good sea-boat, however, and never shipped a drop of water, 
except that which ran in unceasing streams through her 
bottom. Against the breeze, though, she travelled very 
heavily, and there was nothing to be done but land, rest 
meanwhile, and hope that the wind would drop toward 
evening. This it eventually did, and we embarked again. 
It was not long before we reached Nua, as the point is 
called which lies at the mouth of Itivdlek Fjord, the north- 
ern branch of Ameralik. Here the country was less wild 
and broken, and, with its low ridges covered with moss 
and heather, promised excellent reindeer-ground. 

It was a fine, still evening, and we now set about to cross 
the fjord. This was the longest sea-passage we had as yet 
attempted ; but all went well, and we were soon across to 
the opposite shore. It was dark by this time, and we put 
to land to get some supper. Here, however, we found nei- 
ther fuel nor water, and had to eat our food cold and with- 
out drink, a state of things to which we were, nevertheless, 
well used. We had thought of pushing on farther during 
the night, but we now saw some ominous storm-clouds 
coming up from the west, and gathering about the sharp, 
wild peaks on the north side of the fjord. The night, too, 
was so dark that it would have been difficult to cross the 
fjord again, as we wished ; and so we determined to bring 
the boat ashore, and get a little sleep, in the hope that 
the moon might come to our help later. During the oper- 
ation of beaching the boat, Sverdrup was unlucky enough 
to fall into the water, which is not very pleasant just be- 
fore bedtime, and when one has so little in the way of a 
change of clothes. 



152 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

There was no improvement in the weather, and we slept 
till the morning of October i. It was a splendid sunny 
day, and there was a gentle^'wind blowing to help us. 

In the course of the morning we crossed the fjord again, 
and went ashore to get ready a substantial dinner of two 
gulls apiece and a soup of unsurpassed excellence. To 
the broth in which the birds had been cooked' we added 
peas and bread, and the compound was so invigorating 
that we literally felt the strength grow in us as we took 
down one basin after another. 

Unluckily, at this spot where we had landed there was a 
great abundance of crowberries, and as a matter of course 
we added them to our bill of fare. It was long since we 
had had access to fresh, wholesome, vegetable food, and 
we actually indulged ourselves beyond the bounds of rea- 
son. First we ate the berries standing ; and then, when 
we could stand no longer, we ate them sitting ; and when 
this posture became at last too wearisome, we lay prone at 
our ease, and prolonged the debauch to incredible lengths. 
When we landed there had been no wind, but now a stiff 
northerly breeze sprang up, which blew up the fjord, and 
made any attempt at further progress on our part quite out 
of the question. All we could do, therefore, was to lie 
here, and go on with our crowberries. At last we grew so 
torpid that we had not the energy to pick the berries any 
longer with our hands, and so we turned on our faces, and 
went on gathering them with our lips till we fell asleep. 
We slept till evening, and when we woke, there hung the 
great black, luscious berries still before our very lips, and 
on we went eating them till we dozed off again. If what 
people say is true, that gluttony is one of the deadly sins, 
then may Heaven's mercy save us from the dire punish- 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



^53 



ment that must await us for what we did that day in Ame- 
rahlcfjord. It has ahvays been a cause for wonder to me 
that we did not pay the penalty then and there ; but, as a 
matter of fact, we suffered no ill-effects from our excesses. 
At midnight the wind dropped, and I turned the crew 
out. In spite of the crowberries, Sverdrup had had suffi- 




BY AMERALIKFJORD ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER I 
{Front a photograph) 



cient energy in the course of the evening to collect some 
wood and fetch water in the event of our needing a meal 
in the night. We now, therefore, fortified ourselves for 
work, and by one o'clock we were afloat, ready to push on 
with renewed energy. We made our way quickly along 
the shore in intense darkness. The phosphorescence of 
the water was almost as brilliant as anything that tropical 
seas can show. The blades of our oars gleamed like 
molten silver, and as they stirred the surface the effect was 



154 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

seen in the glittering radiance that stretched far below. 
The whole scene was very grand as we passed along under 
the beetling cliffs, where we could see scarcely anything 
but the flashes of phosphorescence which flitted upon the 
water round about us, and danced and played far away in 
the eddies of our wake. 

We seemed to have luck with us just now — a state of 
things to which we were not much accustomed. The 
weather was fine, and there was no wind ; so, to make the 
best use of our opportunities, and keep the steam up, we 
had recourse to frequent stimulants in the way of meat- 
chocolate. Rations were served out often and liberally, 
and with apparent effect, for we made rapid progress. 

At dawn, while we were resting at a certain spot, we 
heard numbers of ptarmigan calling in the scrub close by 
us. It would have been easy to bag some, and I was 
tempted to try ; but we thought we had no time to waste 
on land for such a purpose, so we showed an heroic deter- 
mination by rowing away from the enticing spot. 

We rowed on all the morning without stopping, except 
for chocolate. Along the whole stretch of shore the rocks 
fell so abruptly into the water that there were but two or 
three places where a landing was possible. About noon, 
to our great astonishment, we found ourselves approach- 
ing the mouth of the fjord. Here we came upon a point 
with a nice flat stretch of beach, and pulled in to land. 
The spot seemed a favorite camping-place, for there were 
several rings of stones marking the sites of Eskimo tents, 
and masses of seals' bones and similar refuse strewn about 
the place. 

The consciousness of having got so far made us unus- 
ually reckless. We felt that we should soon be in Godt- 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 155 

haab now, and in honor of the occasion we contrived 
a dinner which, in magnificence, surpassed even that of 
the day before. We had now no need for parsimony or 
self-restraint, and no meal throughout the course of the 
expedition came up to this in extravagance. We began 
with sea-urchins, or sea-eggs, which I collected in num- 
bers on the beach close by. The ovaries of these are 
especially good, and little inferior to oysters, and of this 
delicacy we consumed huge quantities. We then went 
on to gulls and guillemots, which were followed by the 
usual excellent soup. Biscuit and butter we had in 
abundance, and there were plenty of crowberries for him 
that had recovered from the surfeit of the preceding day. 
It was, indeed, a dinner worthy of the name, as Sverdrup 
said. It was no easy matter for us to convey ourselves 
into the boat again, and bend over the oars to do our 
proper work. If at any time afterward I wished to bring 
Sverdrup into a thoroughly good humor, I had only to 
call to mind our notable dinner at the great camping-place 
in Ameralikfjord. 

Fortune was strangely kind to us that day: we now 
had a fair wind behind us, and, in spite of our torpor and 
laziness, we made rapid progress during the afternoon. 
Everything was rosy to us now, and we pulled away in 
sheer fulness of heart. There was one thorn in the side 
of our happiness, nevertheless. This came from the 
absurdly thin little rails on which we had to sit instead of 
thwarts. I suffered so much that I felt I could well do 
without a certain part of the body altogether. We 
shifted, and shifted again, but with little relief to our sore- 
ness and discomfort. The happiness of this world is, 
indeed, seldom pure and unalloyed. 



156 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Thus we passed out of the fjord, and saw the sea, 
islands, and scattered rocks sjoread out before us, and 
Hghted by the most glorious of sunsets. The whole ex- 
panse seemed to be suspended in an atmosphere of 
gently glowing light. The vision stopped us, barbarians 
as we were, and deprived us of speech and power of ac- 
tion. A feeling of home and familiar scenes came over 
us ; for just so lie the w^eather-beaten islands of the Nor- 
wegian coast, caressed by flying spray and summer haze, 
the outskirts of the fjords and valleys that lie behind. 
It is not to be wondered at that our forefathers were 
drawn to this land of Greenland. 

We had set ourselves the task of passing the mouth of. 
Kobbefjord, an inlet which lies just to the south of Godt- 
haab, that evening, so that, in the event of bad weather 
next day, we could, nevertheless, easily reach our destina- 
tion overland. We now came to a little fjord which is 
not marked sufficiently clearly on the map we had, and 
which we therefore wrongly assumed to be Kobbefjord, 
though I thought at the time that it lay suspiciously near 
to the mouth of Ameralik. 

Consequently, we thought we might as well land there 
and then, as we sat simply in torture, and our legs were 
stiff with the pain and discomfort of the position. But 
then it struck us that we had better keep on till we could 
see the lights of Godthaab, for, in our innocence, we sup- 
posed them to be visible from the south. We saw, how- 
ever, nothing at all, and, as the current now ran hard 
against us, we were at last obliged to desist and go 
ashore. This was at a point which lies at the foot of a 
high mountain, which we afterward found to be Hjorte- 
takken. It was now about nine o'clock, and, with the 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 157 

exception of short intervals for breakfast and dinner, we 
had been fixed to those seats of affliction for a grood 
twenty hours. It was indeed a welcome change to have 
a broad surface to stretch ourselves upon. 

Phenomenal as our dinner had been, the supper which 
now followed was not much less so. For the first time 
since we left the Jason we could go to work upon bread, 
butter, and liver " pate " without restraint and stingy weigh- 
ing out of rations. We drank lemonade to our heart's 
desire, and did our very best to prevent any of that prov- 
ender which we had been economizing so long from 
remaining over, to be carried to people among whom it 
would have no value. This thought it was that harassed 
us, and urged us to further effort; but in the end we 
were obliged to desist, with our task as yet undone. 

This was the last of these wonderful nights which we 
had a chance of enjoying before our reentrance into civili- 
zation. We felt that it was our farewell to Nature and to 
the life which had now grown so familiar and so dear to 
us. The southern sky was as usual radiant with the 
northern lights, streamer after streamer shooting up to the 
zenith, each more brilliant than the last ; while the stars 
glittered in their usual impassive way, their brightness 
more or less eclipsed as the rival lights waxed or waned in 
intensity. 

We were both of us in a strange mood : our wander- 
ings were all but ended ; we had met with many mishaps 
and many unforeseen obstacles, but we had succeeded in 
spite of all. We had passed through the drifting ice, and 
pushed our way up along the coast ; we had crossed over 
the snow-fields of the continent, and made our way out 
of the fjord in our miserable little boat, in defiance of 



158 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

adverse winds ; we had worked hard, and undeniably gone 
through a deal of tribulation to reach the goal which now 
lay so near to us. And-, what were our feelings now ? 
Were they feelings of triumph or exultation ? For my 
own part, I must confess that mine were not of this lofty 
order ; to no other feeling could I attain than a sense of 
gross repletion. It was a feeling grateful enough to me ; 
but as for our goal, we had been kept waiting too long — 
there was too little surprise about its eventual attainment 
for us to give much thought to it. 

We curled ourselves up in our fur pelisses, chose each 
a stretch of heather among the rocks, and slept our last 
night under the open sky as well as we had seldom slept 
before. 

It was late before we woke next morning, October 3, 
and when we at last shook off our sleep, the wind had 
long been blowing freshly up the channel leading to Godt- 
haab, and calling us to work. But we felt that for once 
we need not hurry — we could sleep to the end, and yet 
reach our destination in good time. 

We began breakfast again with the worthiest intentions 
of consuming to the last morsel the provisions which 
remained ; but though we attacked them manfully, we 
had to put to sea once more with this end still unattained. 
With the wind behind us we made rapid progress north- 
ward, and when we passed the spit of land on which we 
had camped for the night, we found that we had been all 
the time on the south side of Kobbefjord. This fjord 
now lay before us set in a circle of wild, lofty mountains, 
among which Hjortetakken was most conspicuous, with 
its sides sprinkled with fresh snow, and its peak from time 
to time wrapped in light, drifting mist. 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 159 

We now set about to cross the fjord to the south side 
of the promontory on which Godthaab itself hes. As we 
reached the middle we heard, for the first time for many- 
weeks, the sound of unfamiliar voices. They were evi- 
dently Eskimo women and children from whom the 
sounds came. They were screaming and shouting; but, 
though we listened, we could make out nothing, and 
though we looked, there was no one to be seen. Some 
time afterward we learned that these voices must have 
come from a party of folk who had gone over to " Store 
Malene," a mountain lying to the east of Godthaab, to 
gather berries. They had caught sight of us, and were 
shouting to one another that they could see two men in 
half a boat, and were much exercised to know what new 
sorcery this could be. Such a vessel they had never seen 
before, and they did not at all like the look of it. 

This Eskimo description of our little craft as half a 
boat was really very happy, as it did much resemble the 
forepart of an ordinary boat. Some way farther on we 
saw in the distance the figure of a man sitting, as it were, 
in the water. This was the first " kaiaker " we came 
across on the west coast. Presently we caught sight of 
two more ; they were out after seal, and took no notice 
of us. This was either because they preferred their own 
business, or because they thought there was something 
wrong about us. There is no doubt that they saw us 
long before we saw them, for the Eskimo has the keenest 
of eyes, and never fails to use them. 

As we rounded the next point, Sverdrup, who was row- 
ing bow, caught sight of some houses which he thought 
must be Godthaab. I turned my head in astonishment, 
and saw some Eskimo huts, but could not think them to 



i6o NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

be Godthaab, as, according to the map, the settlement did 
not lie just there. Sverdrup then said : " But those big 
houses can't belong to the§,e wretched Eskimos." I then 
turned quite round, and could now see the slated roof of 
a long building, surmounted by a little tower, and was 
quite ready to agree that this could not be an Eskimo 
abode, though it struck me that it might very well be a 
warehouse. But as we passed another point, we found 
we had before us no warehouse, but a church and a num- 
ber of Eskimo huts lying by a little bay. We did not 
think it was any use landing here, and were for keeping 
straight on ; but suddenly a fresh breeze sprang up, and 
made it very heavy work to row, and we concluded that 
it would be better to go ashore at once, and proceed to 
Godthaab overland. 

So w^e turned our little tub shoreward, and found that 
a number of Eskimos, chiefly old women, were already 
swarming out of the houses, and coming down to the 
beach to receive us. Here they gathered, chattering, and 
bustling to and fro, and gesticulating in the same strange 
way as we had seen their fellows of the east coast often 
do. We could see little or no difference between the two 
branches of this people we had met ; here there was just 
the same outward aspect — the same ugliness, and the 
same beaming friendliness and good humor. 

When we landed they thronged around us, and helped 
us disembark our goods, and bring the boat ashore, all the 
while jabbering unceasingly, and laughing, in wonder and 
amusement, at us two poor strangers. While we were 
standing there, mounting guard over our gun and the 
more valuable of our possessions, and ignoring the crowd 
of people around us, whom, of course, we could not under- 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB i6i 

stand one whit, Sverdrup said : " Here comes a Euro- 
pean ! " I looked up, and saw a young man advancing 
toward us. He was clad in an attempt at a Greenland- 
er's dress, but had a Tam-o'-Shanter cap upon his head, 
and a fair, good-looking face, which was as little like an 
Eskimo's as could well be. There could be no mistake 
about him ; he and his whole demeanor were, so to say, a 
direct importation from " the King's Copenhagen," as it is 
called here. He came up to us, we exchanged salutations ; 
then he asked, " Do you speak English 1 " The accent 
was distinctly Danish, and the question somewhat discom- 
fited me, as I thought it a little absurd for us to set to 
work at English instead of our own mother-tongue. But 
before I could answer, he luckily inquired : " Are you 
Englishmen ? " 

To this I could safely answer, in good Norse : " No ; we 
are Norwegians." " May I ask your name ? " " My name 
is Nansen, and we have just come from the interior." 
" Oh, allow me to congratulate you on taking your Doc- 
tor's degree." This came like a thunderbolt from a blue 
sky, and it was all I could do to keep myself from laughing 
outright. To put it very mildly, it struck me as comical 
that I should cross Greenland to receive congratulations 
upon my Doctor's degree, which I happened to have taken 
just before I left home. Nothing, of course, could have 
been more remote from my thoughts at the moment. 

The stranger's name was Baumann. He was a good- 
natured, sociable native of Copenhagen, who was now in 
the Greenland Service, and acting as assistant, or, as they 
call it, "Volontor," to the Superintendent of the colony of 
Godthaab. We subsequently had a good deal of his soci- 
ety. The Superintendent, he told us, was just now away 
11 



1 62 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

from home, and in the name of his superior he offered us 
a hearty welcome to the colony. Godthaab itself was close 
by, and it was quite by chance that he had just walked out 
to Ny Herrnhut, the spot where we landed, to see the mis- 
sionary. This is one of the few stations established by 
the German Moravian Mission in Greenland. 

The first question I asked, as soon as I could get an 
opportunity, was about communication with Denmark, and 
whether the last ship had sailed. From Godthaab I 
learned that the last ship had gone two months or more 
ago, and there was none now that we could catch. The 
only possible chance was the Fox, at Ivigtut, but she was 
to leave in the middle of October, and the place was 300 
miles away. 

These tidings were anything but welcome. It had been 
the thought of catching a ship to Europe which had 
spurred us on during our crossing of the ice ; the vision 
of a ship had haunted us unceasingly, and never allowed 
us the enjoyment of rest or ease. We had consoled our- 
selves with the thought that we could make up for lost 
time on board, during our voyage home ; and now, when 
the time came, we found that our ship had sailed before 
ever we started upon our journey across the continent. It 
was a magnificent structure of hopes and longings that 
now sank into the sea before our eyes. As far as I was 
concerned personally, this was not of much' account, for, 
on the contrary, I was quite ready to spend a winter in 
Greenland ; but for the other poor fellows it was another 
matter. They had friends and relatives — one of them 
wife and children — away at home, whom they longed to 
see, and they had often talked of the joys of their return. 
And now they would have to wait through the long win- 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 163 

ter here, while their people at home would think them 
long since dead. This must never be ; a message must 
be sent off at once to the Fox, our last hope of relief. 
While we were talking the matter over, we were joined 
by another European — the Moravian missionary, Herr 
Voged. He greeted us very kindly, gave us a hearty 
welcome, and would not hear of our going by his door 
unentertained. 

He lived in the building with the tower which had first 
caught our attention, and which served both as church 
and as a residence for him. We were received here, by 
the missionary and his wife, with unaffected heartiness, and 
it was with a strange mixture of feelings that we set foot 
once more in a civilized dwelling, after four months of 
wild life on shipboard, in our tent, and in the open air. 
The room we were taken into will always remain vividly 
impressed upon my memory. Its dimensions were not 
grand, and its features were uniformity and simplicity; 
but for us, who were used to a cramped tent, and the still 
greater simplicity of the open air, the appointments of this 
house were nothing less than luxury itself. The mere sit- 
ting upon a chair was a thing to be remembered, and the 
cigars to which we were treated were a source of uncon- 
cealed satisfaction. Then the cup of welcome was handed 
round, while coffee and food were being prepared for us. 
It was a queer change to be sitting at a table again, and 
before a white cloth, and to be using knife and fork upon 
earthenware plates. I will not say, unreservedly, that the 
change was altogether for the better, for we had been 
thoroughly comfortable when sitting by the camp-fire, and 
tearing our gulls to pieces with our teeth and fingers, with- 
out forks, plates, and formalities. 



1 64 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

While the meal was in progress, the pastor of God- 
thaab, Herr Balle, arrived ; soon after him came the 
doctor of the place, whose-- name was Binzer. The news 
of our coming had already reached the colony, and they 
had hurried out at once to bid us welcome. We were 
now beset with questions as to our journey: as to why 
we had changed our route, how we had got out of the 
fjord, where we had left the others, and so on ; all our 
accounts being followed with the most lively interest. 
Then the party broke up, and we took our leave of our 
kind host and hostess. 

When we got out of doors, we found, to our surprise, 
that it was raining. Our luck was true to us this time, 
and we had reached the habitations of men none too soon, 
for the rain would have been very unpleasant to us in our 
little boat. 

We were assured that our boat and things should be 
taken care of and sent on, and then we started off to walk 
in the rain over the hills to Godthaab. 

After a time our way brought us out upon a project- 
ing point of rock, and we saw the colony lying below us. 
There were not a great number of buildings -^ four or 
five European houses, a church perched upon an emi- 
nence, and a good many Eskimo huts. The whole group 
lay in a small hollow between two hills, and by a pleasant 
little bay. The Danish flag was flying on its high mast, 
which stood on a mound down by the water. Crowds of 
people were swarming about. They had all come out to 
see the mysterious strangers from the interior who had 
arrived in half a boat. 

Then we made our way down ; but we had hardly 
reached the houses before a gunshot rang out over the 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



165 



water, and was followed by one after another, in all a 
complete salute. We had parted from civilization amid 
the thunder of cannon, and with this same thunder we 
were received into the civilized world again, for to such 
the west coast of Greenland must certainly be reckoned. 
It might have been supposed that we were individuals of 
the most warlike tendencies. How many shots they fired 




BOLETTE. GREENLAND WOMAN OF MIXED RACE 

in our honor I cannot say, but the salute was well sus- 
tained. The little natives had all their work to do around 
the guns under the flagstaff, as we were passing among 
the houses and between long rows of Greenlanders of 
both sexes, who crowded around and. linedi the way. They 



i66 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

— and especially the women — were a striking sight in 
their picturesque attire. Smiles, good nature, and here 
and there, perhaps, a littk unaffected wonder, beamed 
from all the faces about us, and added a new sunshine to 
the surroundings. 

Then our eyes fell upon a more familiar sight — the 
figures of the four Danish ladies of the colony, who were 
coming to meet us, and to whom we were duly presented. 
At the same time, it struck us somewhat curiously to see 
European petticoats again among all the skin jackets and 
trousers of the fair Eskimos. 

As we reached the Superintendent's house, the salute 
was brought to an end, and the native gunners, under the 
lead of one Frederiksen, gave us a ringing cheer. The 
Superintendent's wife now welcomed us, on her own part 
and that of her husband. Here, again, we were tem- 
porarily entertained, and also invited to dine with the 
doctor at four o'clock. 

We had still a long time to get through before then, 
however, though we had plenty to do in the way of wash- 
ing and decorating ourselves. We were shown up into 
our new friend Baumann's room, the aspect of which, 
again, was sufficiently unfamiliar to us to make a very 
vivid impression upon our minds. Here a musical-box 
played to us " The Last Rose of Summer," an air which 
will hereafter never fade from my memory ; and here we 
were, for the first time, horrified by the sight in a glass 
of our sunburnt and weather-beaten faces. After our 
long neglect in the way of washing and dressing, we 
seemed to ourselves little fit for presentation in society, 
and, both in our faces and clothes, a considerable number 
of the hues of the jainbow were intrusively conspicuous. 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 167 

It was an indescribable delight to plunge the head into 
a basin of water once more, and to go through the cere- 
mony of an honest Saturday night's wash. Cleanness 
was not, however, to be obtained at the first attempt. 
Then we attired ourselves in the clean linen, so to say, 
which we had brought all the way across Greenland for 
the purpose ; and, thus reconstituted, we felt ourselves 
quite ready for the good things of the doctor's well- 
provided dinner-table. 

By all the Danish inhabitants of Godthaab we were 
entertained with unprecedented hospitality, and the lux- 
ury displayed on all sides was quite astonishing. We 
had expected to find that the Europeans exiled to this 
corner of the world would be so influenced by the na- 
ture of their surroundings, and the primitive section of 
humanity amid which they dwelt, that they would have 
inevitably forgotten a certain amount of their native 
etiquette. And therefore our surprise was great when we 
saw the ladies appear at social gatherings in the longest 
of trains and gloves, and the men in black coats and 
shirt-fronts of irreproachable stiffness, and even on 
occasions going to the extremity of the conventional 
swallow-tail. Surrounded, as we were, by the natives in 
their natural and picturesque attire, and thoroughly 
unaccustomed as we had grown to all these things, to us 
the absurdity of European taste in such matters seemed 
altogether incongruous. 

We two were now safe in port, and the next thing to 
be done was to send relief to our comrades in Ameralik- 
fjord with the least possible delay. They had no means 
of knowing whether we had reached our destination, or 
had gone to the bottom of the fjord, and left them to 



i68 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

starve to death out there. And after this was done, we 
must despatch a message to the Fox. 

In the course of the afternoon we tried, therefore, to 
arrange matters, but without success. No sooner had we 
arrived than a storm from the south had sprung up, and 
the weather was so bad that the Eskimos, who are bad 
sailors in anything but their " kaiaks," would not venture 
upon the voyage into Ameralikfjord. The letter to the 
Fox was to be sent by one or two " kaiakers," but we 
could find no one in the colony who would undertake 
to start in this weather, and we were therefore obliged to 
wait till next day. 

When night came, and lodging had to be found for 
us, Sverdrup was quartered upon the before-mentioned 
Frederiksen, the carpenter and boat-builder of the place, 
while Herr Baumann's room was put at my disposal. It 
was strange, too, to find myself in a real bed again after 
six months' absence. There can be few who have en- 
joyed a bed as completely as I did this one. Every limb 
thrilled with delight as I stretched myself on the soft 
mattress. The sleep which followed was not so sound as 
I could have expected. I had grown so used to the bag 
of skin, with the ice or rock beneath it, that I felt my 
present couch too soft, and I am not sure that, after 
a while, I did not feel a faint longing for the old order of 
things. 

On the morning of October 4 I was roused from my 
unquiet dreams by the gaze of the Eskimo maid-servant 
who had come with the morning supply of tea and sand- 
wiches. After this early meal I got up, and went out to 
look around the place. 

Down by the beach there was just now a deal of life 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 169 

and movement, for a boat's load of seals, which had been 
caught not far off, had just come in, and the so-called 
" flensing," or process of cutting the blubber out, was now 
in progress. I went down with Baumann to study this 
new phase of life. The Eskimo women, with their 
sleeves rolled up, knelt in numbers around the gashed 
and mangled seals. From some the blood was taken, and 
collected in pails, to be afterward used in the manufac- 
ture of black puddings, or analogous delicacies ; from 
others the intestines were being drawn, or the blubber or 
flesh being cut. All parts were carefully set aside for 
future use. 

After having seen enough of the sanguinary spectacle, 
and duly admired the dexterity and grace displayed by 
the Eskimo women, as well as the good looks of some 
among them, we went across to see Sverdrup, and, if he 
were up, to ask him to come and have breakfast at the 
Superintendent's house. 

When we entered, however, we found him already at 
table with his host, Herr Frederiksen, and engaged upon 
a breakfast of roast ptarmigan and other delicacies. I 
expressed my regret that this was the case, as I had 
hoped that we should breakfast together. But Sverdrup 
could see no reason why we should not do so still. He 
was now occupied with his first breakfast, certainly, but 
so good a thing would easily bear repetition, and he 
expressed himself ready at once to begin again. So he 
actually did ; and, as a matter of fact, he made at this 
time a regular practice of eating his meals twice over. 
For three days he stood the strain ; but after this he suc- 
cumbed, and had to keep his bed for some hours in con- 
sequence. It was a long time, indeed, before any of us 



I70 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

returned to decent ways again, and were content to take 
our food like civilized beings. 

In the course of the morning a man was found who 
was considered equal to the task of carrying our de- 
spatches southward, and was at the same time willing to 
undertake the journey. The man's name was David, and 
he was a resident of Ny Herrnhut. He was to go to 
Fiskernass, a small settlement some ninety miles to the 
south, and there to send the letters on by other " kai- 
akers." An errand of this kind is usually undertaken by 
two men in company, as risks of a fatality are thus much 
lessened. But as the same David was not afraid of the 
undertaking, and had expressed his readiness to start the 
same afternoon, I, of course, had no objection to make. 
I promised him, as well as the others to whom he was 
to hand the despatches, extra pay in case they caught 
the Fox. 

I then wrote a hurried letter to Herr Smith, the man- 
ager of the cryolite quarry at Ivigtut. The Fox being 
the property of the company who own this quarry, it lay 
really with the local manager to decide what course the 
vessel should take ; but I also wrote to the captain of the 
ship. In both these letters I asked that the vessel should 
be allowed to come up to Godthaab to fetch us, if possi- 
ble. I did not propose that she should wait at Ivigtut till 
we could join her there, because, in the present uncertain 
state of the weather, it was quite impossible to calculate 
how long it would take us to get the rest of the party 
from Ameralikfjord, and cover the necessary 300 miles in 
open boats. As far as we could judge, we could not 
reckon upon reaching Ivigtut by the middle of the 
month — the date at which the ship was expected to sail 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 171 

— and we could not ask her to wait an indefinite time for 
us down there. On the other hand, it seemed to me that, 
if she thought of doing anything on our behalf, it would 
be to come and fetch us. By these means she could save 
time, and it would be possible to reckon, with a fair 
amount of accuracy, how many days the voyage to Godt- 
haab and back would take her. 

Furthermore, in case my messengers should catch the 
Fox, but she could not see her way to fetching us, I 
hastily wrote a few lines to Herr Gamel, of Copenhagen. 

This letter, and one from Sverdrup to his father, 
brought to Europe the first news of our having reached 
the west coast of Greenland, and contained all that was 
known of our journey for six months. In one respect 
they hold, perhaps, a somewhat unusual position, for their 
postage came to no less than eighty-five dollars. 

Our messenger promised me that he would start that 
very afternoon. He did make the attempt, but, as far as 
I could learn, was driven back by stress of weather. 

As things were just as bad in this respect when even- 
ing came, and it was the general opinion that no boat 
would be able to make the voyage into Ameralikfjord 
next day either, the pastor proposed that a couple of 
men should be despatched in " kaiaks " to take to our 
companions the news of our safe arrival, together with 
a temporary supply of provisions, with which they could 
console themselves until the boats could be sent to fetch 
them away. This proposal I accepted, of course, most 
gratefully ; and while the pastor went to secure his 
" kaiakers," two plucky brothers, named Terkel and 
Hoseas, who belonged to Sardlok, but happened at this 
moment to be at Godthaab, the ladies of the colony set 



172 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

busily to work to collect a supply of the most unheard-of 
delicacies. These were stowed away in the two canoes, 
while I supplemented them with some simpler articles of 
food, such as butter, bacon, and bread, and last, but not 
least, some pipes and tobacco. Among the latter was a 
big Danish porcelain pipe with a long stem, and a pound 
of tobacco, for Balto's private delectation -^ a present 
which I had promised him up on the inland ice on 
some occasion when he had surpassed himself in handi- 
ness. As soon as the " kaiaks " were ready packed, I 
gave Terkel, the elder of the two brothers, through the 
medium of the pastor, an exact description of the spot 
where the others were to be found, and pointed it out to 
him on the map, which he understood well. 

Next morning, therefore, October 5, three Eskimos left 
Godthaab — two bound for Ameralikfjord, and the third 
for Fiskernass. The first two, who were excellent hands 
at their work, made good use of their time, and found our 
companions on the morning of the following day. But 
the latter, who was an inferior " kaiaker," had to turn 
back, and was a long time before he finally got off. As 
far as I could make out, he was seen hanging about Ny 
Herrnhut, which was his home, some days later. 

This same morning, too, a boat for Ameralikfjord made 
an attempt to start, but only to come back a couple of 
hours afterward. As I have already said, these Green- 
landers are no great performers with the oar. In the 
afternoon they had another try, and this time, strange to 
say, we saw no more of them ; but, as we subsequently 
learned, they got no farther than to an island a little way 
to the south, where they disembarked, and passed the 
next few days in a tent instead of returning, though they 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 



173 



were no more than an hour's row distant all the while. 
There was a very good reason for this odd conduct, as it 
appeared, for had they come back they would have lost 
all the pay which they now managed to put to their 
credit ; and, besides, they would have had nothing like so 
good a time at home as in their tent on the island, and 
therefore th^y felt no call to move till they had consumed 
their whole supply of provisions. 

Next day the Superintendent of the colony, Herr 
Bistrup, returned, together with Herr Heincke, the 
German missionary from Umanak, a Moravian station up 
the fjord, some forty miles from Godthaab. The Superin- 
tendent had been in Umanak, when a " kaiaker," who 
had been sent off from the colony, brought him the news 
of our arrival. He and the missionary had thereupon at 
once despatched a couple of men in canoes into Amera- 
likfjord. They also carried a supply of provisions sent 
by the missionary and his wife, and were told to remain 
with our party, and help them in every possible way. 

On October 7, Terkel and Hoseas came back from 
Ameralikfjord with a letter from Dietrichson, telling us 
that they now felt quite comfortable in there, as they had 
an abundance of provisions, and now knew of our safe 
arrival at Godthaab. 

Two days later, or on October 9, the weather was suffi- 
ciently favorable to allow of my sending off an ordinary 
Eskimo boat, which I had borrowed of Herr Voged, the 
German missionary whom we had first met. The crew 
consisted as usual chiefly of women. The same day, too, 
the first boat, commonly known as " the whaler," finally 
left the island on which its crew had hitherto been pic- 
nicking. 



174 NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Several days now passed, and as we had heard nothing 
of our companions, we began to expect their arrival every 
moment. The Greenlanders in particular were extremely 
anxious to see them. 

Like all Eskimos, they have the liveliest imaginations, 
of the fruits of which we had some noteworthy examples. 
The very day after our arrival the strangest rumors were 
flying about among the natives of the colony as to our 
experiences upon the inland ice. We were said to have 
taken our meals in the company of the strange inhabi- 
tants of the interior, who are double the size of ordinary 
men. We had also come across the tiny race of dwarfs 
who inhabit the rocks in the recesses of the fjords. Of 
the feet of these little people we had seen numerous traces 
in the sand, and we even had two specimens of the race 
in our company. 

On the other hand, it was reported that two of the mem- 
bers of the expedition had died on the way ; but of this 
sad occurrence we, as was quite natural, had no desire to 
speak. 

At first, indeed, we were regarded as possessing certain 
almost supernatural attributes, and it was feared that we 
had achieved the heroic feat of crossing the dreaded 
inland ice by the aid of means not strictly orthodox. And, 
therefore, as soon as Sverdrup or I showed ourselves in 
public, the natives assembled in great numbers to gaze 
at us. I, especially, on account of my size, was a favorite 
object of their regard. We received appropriate names 
at once : Sverdrup was called " Akortok " — that is to say, 
" he who steers a ship ; " while I was honored with two 
appellations — " Angisorsuak," or " the very big one," and 
" Umitormiut nalagak," which means " the leader of the 



ARRIVAL AT GODTHAAB 175 

men with the great beards," under which description the 
Norwegians are generally known. 

It had also come to the knowledge of these good people 
that we had two Lapps in our company — members of a 
race which they had never seen. The two " kaiakers " 
who had come back from Ameralikfjord had minutely de- 
scribed their meeting with the strangers. " There were 
two men," they said, " of the people who commonly wear 
great beards, and two who were like us, but were clad in a 
wonderful dress." They were thus quite acute enough to 
see that the Lapps, in spite of all distinctions, belonged 
to a race somewhat oji a level with themselves, and were 
widely different from all Danes and Norwegians. 

At last, early on the morning of October 12, the two 
Eskimos who had been sent into the fjord from Umanak 
arrived with a note from Dietrichson, saying that the 
whole party were now on the way. 

The entire colony, Europeans as well as natives, now 
turned out, and awaited their arrival in great excitement. 
At last we could see, by a movement among the " kai- 
aks," which lay below us, that the boats must be in sight. 
Presently, too, " the whaler " appeared from behind a pro- 
jecting point. The " kaiaks " simply swarmed around her, 
and we soon caught sight of our four companions, seated 
in the stern, in front of the steersman, and already waving 
their caps in the air by way of salutation. It was a little 
strange to me to see them sitting there as passengers, 
instead of working at the oars. 

The boat came slowly on, with a long string of " kai- 
aks " tailing out behind, and soon put in to shore under 
the flagstaff mound, where the four strange beings from 
the interior landed, and were heartily welcomed by the 



176 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Europeans of the colony, as well as by crowds of Eskimos, 
to whom, of course, they were a source of renewed 
wonder and admiration. The Lapps came in for marked 
attention. The Greenlanders set them down as women, 
because they wore long tunics something like the cloaks 
of European ladies, as well as trousers of reindeer skin, 
which particular garments are only used by the women 
of the Eskimos. Balto seemed to take the attention which 
fell to his share with the greatest complacency and non- 
chalance. He talked away, related his experiences, and 
was soon on an intimate footing with all the inhabitants 
of the place. Ravna, as usual, went his own silent way ; 
he came up to me, ducked his head, gave me his hand, 
and, though he said very little, I could see his small eyes 
twinkle with joy and self-satisfaction. 

They were all glad enough to have reached their desti- 
nation, and the announcement that there was a very doubt- 
ful prospect of their getting home this year did not seem 
to have much effect upon their good spirits. 



As stated before in this work (see page 74), Nansen and 
his companions had to spend the winter at Godthaab. 
On April 15 the ship Hvidbjornen arrived, and soon after 
the home journey began ; on May 2 1 Copenhagen was 
reached, and on May 30 they entered Christiania Fjord, 
where they were received by hundreds of sailing boats 
and a whole fleet of steamers. 



CHAPTER X 

WITH THE CURRENT 

In the beginning of 1890, Nansen delivered a lecture 
before the Norwegian Geographical Society, and set forth 
his plan for a new Polar Expedition. " I believe," he said, 
after giving a short sketch of the history of polar investi- 
gation, " that if we study the forces of nature itself which 
are here ready to hand, and try to work with them instead 
of against them, we shall find the surest and easiest way 
of reaching the Pole. It is useless to work against the 
current, as previous expeditions have done ; we must see 
if there is not a current that will work with us. There 
are strong reasons for supposing that such a current 
exists." 

Nansen's plan was founded upon the assumption that 
from Bering Strait and the north coast of Eastern Siberia 
a constant and comparatively strong sea-current sets in 
the direction of the North Pole, whence, again, it turns to 
the south or southwest, between Spitzbergen and Green- 
land, follows the east coast of Greenland, and then sweeps 
around Cape Farewell into Davis Strait. 

Three years after the sinking of the Jeamutte, north of 
the New Siberia Islands in June, 1881, a number of arti- 
cles were found on the drift ice off the southwest coast 
of Greenland, which must undoubtedly have belonged to 
the lost ship — among them, for example, a provision list 
with the signature of the captain, De Long, a list of the 



178 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Jeannette s boats, and a pair of oil-skin trousers marked 
with the name of one of the sailors who were rescued. 
The news of this discovery upon the drifting ice floe 
attracted much attention, and it was conjectured, with a 
plausibility approaching to certainty, that the floe must 
have been carried by the above-mentioned current from 
the New Siberia Islands, across or near the Pole, to the 
place where it was found. It was calculated that the 
articles must have been conveyed at a speed of about two 
miles in the twenty-four hours, which corresponded with 
the rate at which the Jeannette was borne along in the ice 
during the last four months of her existence. 

These relics of the Jeannette are not,' however, the 
only objects which have made the. long journey with the 
current from East Siberia across the Pole, and have been 
swept southward along the east coast of Greenland. A 
so-called " throwing stick," used by the Eskimos for hurl- 
ing their bird-darts, was found by a Greenlander, and 
given to Dr. Rink at Godthaab, who afterwards presented 
it to the Christiania University. It has been shown that 
this instrument is quite different in form from that used 
by the Greenlanders, but exactly resembles the t;hrowing- 
sticks used by the Eskimos of Alaska, the northwestern 
extremity of North America, which borders on Bering 
Strait ; so that it too, in all probability, had traversed the 
Polar Sea. 

The drift wood which is washed ashore in Greenland 
in such large quantities, and is so indispensable to the 
Eskimos in the absence of timber trees, has been showai 
to consist for the most part of timber native to Siberia, 
so that it too must have been carried by the same current 
across the very precincts of the Pole. 



WITH THE CURRENT 



179 




NANSEN IN 1893 



In the course of his wanderings along the shores of 
Denmark Strait, Nansen found on the drift ice large 
quantities of mud. Of this he collected a number of 
specimens, which were examined by Professor P. Cleve, 
of Upsala, and A. E. Tornebohm, of Stockholm, and 
proved to consist of varieties of soil characteristic of Si- 
beria. Thus the probability is that this mud, too, had 
made the long polar voyage. 

These facts of themselves sufficiently prove that there 



i8o NAA^SEN IN 2 HE FROZEN WORLD 

must be a practicable connection between the sea to the 
north of Asia and the sea on the east of Greenland — 
not, perhaps, an open water=.way, which one could scarcely 
expect to find, but a practicable route in the sense that 
the current carries the ice floes (now frozen together, now 
piled one on the top of the other, and then again broken 
up and scattered), across the distance indicated, with con- 
siderable regularity and in an ascertainable space of time. 
From these premises, then, Nansen drew what we may 
fairly call the inevitable conclusion that if an ice floe with 
what happens to be upon it can thus make its way across 
the polar area in a given time, it must be no less possible 
for a ship, fixed among the ice floes in the course of the 
current, to complete the same passage in the same time. 

His plan was to make his way, with a small but strongly 
built vessel, to the New Siberia Islands, and there or 
thereabouts await the most opportune moment for mak- 
ing the furthest possible advance in ice-free water. He 
thought it probable that he could get well past the Islands. 
" When once we have come so far, we shall be right in 
the current in which the Jeannette was caught. Then 
the thing will be to press on northward with all our 
miffht until we stick fast. We must now choose a favora- 
ble place, moor the ship firmly between convenient ice 
floes, and then let the ice screw itself together around her 
as much as it pleases — the more the better. The ship 
will simply be lifted out of the water into a firm and se- 
cure ice berth." Henceforth — so the project continues 
— the current takes up the work of propulsion ; the ship 
is no longer a means of transport but a barrack. The 
current sweeps it past the Pole and onward into the sea 
between Greenland and Spitzbergen. At the 8oth degree 



WITH THE CURRENT 



i8t 



of latitude, or possibly before that if it be summer, it will 
probably find open water and be able to sail home. But 
if it should be crushed by the pressure of the ice ? Then 
the equipment and provisions will be moved to a strong 




NANSEN ON THE ICE (SUMMER DRESS) 
{From an instantaneous photograph') 

ice floe, where the tents will be pitched, warm tents of 
double sail-cloth with an intermediate layer of reindeer- 
hair. One can get far upon an ice floe. The crew of 
the Hausa drifted from Smith Sound right down to Davis 
Strait. But if the ice floe should break } Even that will 
not be fatal, for the stores will be distributed over the ice 
and placed upon wooden rafts. Then, having in this way 



1 82 HANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

arrived in the Greenland sea and found open water, the 
expedition will take to its boats. It is not the first time 
Norwegian seamen have trat^ersed the Arctic Sea in open 
boats ; if your boats are good, it is not at all impossible to 
Q^et on amid the ice. 

And it is no unreasonable calculation that all this may- 
take no more than two years. Five years' provisions, at 
any rate, will be amply sufficient. With the food-stuffs 
now available, there is no fear of scurvy. Besides, a 
certain amount of fresh meat may probably be counted 
on ; seals and polar bears are to be found very far north, 
and the sea no doubt contains plenty of small animals 
which may be eaten at a pinch. But suppose, now, that 
the Jeannette current does not pass right across the Pole, 
but, say, between the Pole and Franz Josef Land t That 
matters very little. " We do not set forth to seek for the 
mathematical point which forms the northern end of the 
earth's axis ; to reach this particular spot is not, in itself, 
a matter of the first moment. What we want to do is to 
investigate the great unknown regions of the earth which 
surround the Pole ; and our investigations will have prac- 
tically the same scientific value whether we reach the 
actual Pole itself, or pass at some distance from it — 
curious though it would be, no doubt, to stand on the 
very Pole and be turned around with the earth on one's 
own axis, or see the oscillations of the pendulum describe 
an angle of exactly fifteen degrees in the hour." 

Nansen finally dwells upon the scientific significance of 
polar exploration — its important bearing upon the prob- 
lems of geography, terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric 
electricity, the Aurora Borealis, the solar spectrum, dawn 
and twilight, the physical geography of the sea, meteor- 



WITH THE CURRENT 



183 



ology, zoology and botany, palaeontology and geology. 
" We Norwegians," so he ends his lecture, " have before 
now contributed not a little to the exploration of the 
Arctic area; our gallant Tromso and Hammerfest men 
in particular have done excellent service in this respect. 




NANSEN ON THE ICE (WINTER DRESS) 
(From an instantaneous fkotograph) 



But as yet no Norwegian crew has set forth straight for 



the Pole in a Norwegian craft. 



investigated 



" The polar area must and shall be 
throughout its whole extent. There has hitherto been a 
noble rivalry between the nations as to which should first 
achieve the goal ; and one day it will be achieved. 



1 84 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" May it be Norway's fortune to lead the way ! May it 
be the Norwegian flag that first floats over the Pole ! " 

In November, 1892, Nansen expounded the same plan 
before another geographical society, not a young body 
like ours, but old and world-renowned above all others — 
the Royal Geographical Society in London. 

There was a brilliant gathering, including almost all 
the Englishmen who have distinguished themselves in 
Arctic exploration, and they are not a few. Before this 
society, the first to which Nansen, on his return from 
Greenland (1889), had set forth the results of his expedi- 
tion — before this society, which had done more than any 
other for the advancement of Arctic research — before, in 
short, the most competent body of Arctic specialists in 
the world — he had now both to explain and to defend 
the basis and the details of his plan. 

There they sat before his eyes, all those celebrated 
explorers whose names were already inscribed in the 
history of Arctic research — those grizzled and white- 
haired pioneers of the polar world, the heroes of so many 
an achievement before Nansen was born. There sat 
Admiral Sir George Nares himself, the celebrated chief 
of the Alert and Discovery expedition, during which 
Commodore Markham had, on May 12, 1876, reached the 
latitude of 83° 20', a record which only Lockwood had 
since beaten. There sat Admiral Sir Leopold McClin- 
tock, leader of the Fox expedition (1857-58), by which 
Franklin's fate had been finally ascertained. There, too, 
was Admiral Sir E. Inglefield, who in 1852 brought Kane 
Basin within the sphere of geographical knowledge. And 
there, among the rest, was the famous Arctic traveller, 
Sir Allen Young, who, so long ago as 1857, had accom- 



WITH THE CURRENT 185 

panied McClintock, and in 1875 had taken the Pandora 
right up into Smith Sound to bring tidings of the Nares 
expedition — the same Pandora which, under the name 
of the Jeamtette, carried the hapless De Long to his fate. 

A whole host of other famous polar travellers were 
present — Admiral Ommanney, Dr. Rae, Captain Wig- 
gins, the well-known Yenisei trader, Captain Wharton, etc. 

It was to this illustrious gathering that Nansen was to 
expound his scheme. His lecture was, as usual, clear, 
sober, attractive in its form, and plausible in its matter. 
But he here stood face to face with a concentrated mass 
of experience, all tending to prove the insuperable difficul- 
ties of polar travel, which could not instantly make way 
for a new idea. Practically all of these famous pioneers 
of Arctic research, one after another, commented unfavor- 
ably upon the scheme. 

Old Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock opened the dis- 
cussion as soon as the lecture was over. He began his 
speech thus : " I think I may say this is the most adven- 
turous programme ever brought under the notice of the 
Royal Geographical Society. We have here a true Vik- 
ing, a descendant of those hardy Norsemen who used 
to pay this country such frequent and such unwelcome 
visits." But he could not venture to express any great 
confidence in the scheme put forward, even supposing 
Dr. Nansen succeeded in getting into the alleged polar 
current. Sir Leopold feared the force of the ice-pressure, 
and did not believe that it would force the ship up on 
the ice. 

The next speaker, too. Admiral Nares, expressed strong 
doubts as to the plan. He particularly doubted whether 
the Pram would succeed in finding any polar current. 



1 86 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

and dwelt upon the dangers of a drift voyage such as 
Nansen projected. 

Admiral Inglefield expressed himself more favorably, 
but Sir Allen Young again emphasized the dangers and 
difficulties, thought that land and shallow water would be 
found in the neighborhood of the Pole, and very much 
doubted whether the ship would be forced up on the ice. 
His opinion was that it would be wisest to strike for the 
north from a point well to the westward of the New 
Siberia Islands. 

Captain Wiggins, too, was opposed to making the New 
Siberia Islands the starting-point, " as they are the most 
treacherous, low, sandy, muddy, horrible places." But, on 
the whole, he approved of Nansen's plan, and ended by 
wishing him a hearty God-speed. 

Captain Wharton, a well-known authority on these 
questions, gave him warm encouragement as to his theory 
of the current. He thus ended his speech : " People 
sometimes ask : What is the use of Arctic exploration ? 
Amongst other things I think it may be said that its use 
is to foster enterprise and bring gallant men to the front. 
To-night we have an excellent example of that in Dr. 
Nansen. I can only say to him, God-speed ! " 

Manuscript communications from Admiral Sir George 
Richards and the celebrated Sir Joseph D. Hooker were 
also read, both sceptical and full of warnings. Sir Joseph 
Hooker thus ended his remarks : " I may conclude with 
expressing the hope that Dr. Nansen may dispose of his 
admirable courage, skill, and resources in the prosecution 
of some less perilous attempts than to solve the mystery 
of the Arctic area." 

It was not until late in the evening that Nansen him- 



WITH THE CURRENT 187 

self was at last called upon for a short reply to all these 
doubts and anxious warnings. His answer is as like him 
as it could be. Though plainly willing enough to take 
advice as to details, he is in the main unshaken in his 
conviction of the practicability of his scheme. And while 
he answers, point by point, the objections to it, he gathers 
new arguments from these objections themselves. Refer- 
ring to Admiral Nares's remark, that an Arctic expedition 
ought always to have a secure line of retreat, he answers : 
" I am of the opposite opinion. My Greenland expedi- 
tion proved the possibility of carrying out such an enter- 
prise without any line of retreat, for in that case we burnt 
our ships, and nevertheless made our way across Green- 
land. I trust we shall have the like good fortune this 
time, even if we break the bridges behind us." 

It is, as Sir Leopold McClintock said, the old Viking 
blood that speaks in these words. 

For it is true, as that famous explorer hinted at the 
beginning of his speech, that there is a touch of romance 
in Nansen's scheme. It is constructed, indeed, upon a 
scientific basis ; but no one who was exclusively a man 
of science, or exclusively a sportsman, would have had the 
foresight to conceive such a plan, or the courage to exe- 
cute it. A creative and daring imagination is its deter- 
mining element. 



CHAPTER XI 

NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 

Immediately after his return from Greenland, Nansen 
was offered the post of Curator of the Zobtomic Museum 
of Christiania University, and accepted the offer. Be- 
sides the duties of this position, an immense quantity of 
work fills up the interval between the Greenland and the 
North Pole expeditions ; he writes the story of what he 
has done, and he makes the preparations for what he has 
yet to do. And to all this we must add his lecturing 
tours to different parts of Europe. 

In 1889 he married a daughter of the late Professor M. 
Sars, like his well-known son. Professor O, Sars, an emi- 
nent naturalist. Fru Nansen is probably the most skilful 
lady skirunner in Norway, besides having attained great 
celebrity as a concert singer. 

A honeymoon was out of the question. The day after 
the marriage, the happy couple started by way of Gothen- 
burg, Copenhagen, Flushing, and London, for Newcastle, 
the scene of a geographical congress which lasted a week, 
while the new-made wife wondered in her secret soul that 
her husband should thus prefer " geography " to " love." 
Thence back to London. In the great city, they let the 
world, with its discovered and undiscovered countries, 
look after itself, and gave themselves up, in the solitude 
of that densely peopled wilderness, to the rapture of ex- 
istence. Then they passed six glorious days in Paris. In 




EVA NAN SEN 
{From a fhoiograpit) 



igo NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

October they were home again ; but the sixteenth of the 
month found them once more on the move, this time for 
Stockholm, to attend a meeting of the Swedish Anthro- 
pological and Geographical Society. This society had, 
in January, 1889, determined to confer its Vega medal 
upon Fridtjof Nansen, and it was now handed to him by 
the King. Only five people had received it — Norden- 
skjold, Palander, Stanley, Przewalski, and Junker. The 
spokesman of the society. Professor Gustaf Retzius, said 
in the course of his speech : " Dr. Nansen has had for- 
tune on his side in his first enterprise. Let us hope that 
this victory may not prove his Narva, leading him to un- 
derrate difficulties, and thus luring him on to a Pultowa. 
May it be only the first of a series of triumphs ! " The 
speaker knew, he said, that Dr. Nansen was in no way 
puffed up by his achievement, but precisely the same as 
he had been two years ago when he came to Stockholm 
to consult Professor Nordenskjold as to his projected 
journey. But Nansen might well be proud of his exploit, 
the speaker continued, because it was an honor, not only 
to himself, but also to his country. It is not on the field 
of battle that small nations can vindicate their place in 
the world, and secure their independence. It is in the 
domain of culture, of civilization, of science and art — a 
domain which lies open to all — that they must press 
forward into the front rank and strive for the palm of 
victory. Here it is that they must seek for their true 
distinction, and earn the respect of the great nations. 

As far as we can ascertain, the Vega medal was the first 
distinction of its kind conferred upon Nansen. Seven 
years ago, as an unknown seal-hunter in the Polar Sea, he 
had looked with reverence upon the gallant craft which 




^p^»l^^ 



DR. NANSEN 



192 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

had borne Nordenskjold around Asia. Now he hhnself 
held a place of honor by the side of that renowned travel- 
ler, and received the medal jvhich bore the name of his 
ship and was, according to custom, presented on the day 
when the Vega reached Stockholm after her northeast 
passage. 

The Vega medal was far from being tlie only mark of 
distinction conferred upon him. In the course of these 
years Nansen became a member of a host of geograph- 
ical and other learned societies, and received several gold 
medals and other decorations. We may mention the 
Karl Ritter medal, and the Victoria medal of the Royal 
Geographical Society, conferred upon him in the begin- 
ning of 1 89 1. This celebrated body states as follows its 
reasons for selecting him for this distinction : " The 
patrons of the Victoria medal, to Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, 
for having been the first to cross the inland ice of Green- 
land, a perilous and daring achievement, entailing a jour- 
ney of more than three months, thirty-seven days of which 
were passed at great elevations, and in the climate of an 
Arctic winter; obliging him to lead a forlorn hope with 
the knowledge that there could be no retreat, and that 
failure must involve the destruction of himself and his 
companions ; and calling forth the highest qualities of an 
explorer. For having taken a series of astronomical and 
meteorological observations under circumstances of ex- 
treme difficulty and privation, during a march which 
required exceptional powers of strength and endurance, 
and mental faculties of a high order, as well as the 
qualities of a scientific geographer, for its successful 
accomplishment. And for his discovery of the physical 
character of the interior of Greenland, as well as for other 
valuable scientific results of his expedition." 



JVANSEJSr AT HOME AND ABROAD 193 

A distinguished friend in Copenhagen, writing to con- 
gratulate Nansen on receiving the Victoria medal, ends 
his letter thus : " If you should hereafter become ' Com- 
mander * or ' Grand Cross ' of any order whatsoever, you 
must excuse me if I do not congratulate you. Crowds of 
people have the right to wear a ribbon ; but the Victoria 
medal is held by very few, and it 's a devilish select com- 
pany it brings you into." 

The Grand Cross is presumably in reserve for his 
return from the Polar Seas. Hitherto Nansen has 
received the Knights' Cross of the St. Olaf Order (May 
25, 1889) and of the Order of the Dannebrog. It can 
scarcely be indiscreet to add, that it pained him greatly 
to be the sole recipient of these distinctions. He felt 
strongly that his comrades who had risked their lives with 
him, and shared with him his toils and dangers, ought 
also to share with him the public recognition of their 
exploit. It was certainly no fault of his that he was the 
only member of the expedition who received the cross of 
St. Olaf. 

Even before he returned from Greenland he had been 
elected a member of the Christiania Scientific Society. 
A whole host of evidences of the appreciation of his 
achievement in scientific circles streamed in upon him 
after his return, in the form of letters from the leading 
authorities on Arctic exploration. We shall here quote 
only a single expression from a letter addressed to him 
by the celebrated Arctic traveller, Sir Clements Mark- 
ham, dated March 11, 1891. He says of the Greenland 
expedition : " For my part I regard it as being, from the 
geographical point of view, one of the most remarkable 
achievements of our time, remarkable alike for intrepidity 
and for the importance of its scientific results." 
13 



194 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

On June 24, 1891, Nansen was appointed Correspond- 
ing Member of the Institute of France, in succession to 
Nordenskjold, who was pronwted to the rank of Foreign 
Associate. 

When he and his wife returned from Stockholm they 
lodged for two months with Martha Larsen, formerly 
housekeeper at Great Froen, whom we have already had 
occasion to mention more than once'. Her house, which 
revived all the memories of his childhood, was like a 
haven of rest where he could take refuge at any time. 
He had lived with her during the " hard spring," when he 
had to struggle both with his doctoral thesis and with 
his preparations for the Greenland expedition. Here he 
would seek rest and refreshment of an evening in chatting 
over the old days at Frben. 

" Do you remember, Martha," he would say all of a 
sudden, " that time when I came to you streaming with 
blood from a cut in the leer ? " 

" Indeed I do — you had fallen on some broken glass." 

" No — I can tell you the truth now, Martha. You see 
we had got new sheath-knives, both Alexander and I ; 
and as I was slashing the heads off thistles with > my new 
knife, I ran it into my leg. But of course I could n't tell 
you that." 

" It was n't like you to tell me a lie," says Martha, with 
mild reproach. 

" No, but there 's a limit to everything, Martha ; and I 
could n't have the new sheath-knife taken from me.'' 

It has been the lot of Martha Larsen to sweeten the 
year-long toils of the polar explorers. Not that she, per- 
sonally, took part in the expedition ; but she was the self- 
appointed purveyor of jams and jellies to the Fram. In 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 195 

the course of his voyage northward, when Nansen was 
sending his farewell greetings in letters to all who stood 
very near to him, or had played an important part in his 
life, he did not forget his faithful old friend. From Kha- 
barova, Yugor Strait, he writes to her on August 3, 1893: 
" As I am on the point of leaving this last place from 
which letters can be despatched, I must send you a part- 
ing greeting, and thank you for all your friendship and 
goodness to me." Her friendship he describes as untir- 
ing, and says that she is always finding opportunities to 
be of service to him and to his wife. We need not apol- 
ogize for referring to this simple little letter. It is not 
every celebrated man whose memory is so alert at the 
critical moments of his life. 

From Martha Larsen's the newly-married couple re- 
moved to the Drammen Road, where they set up house. 
But there was too little sun here, and too much town, too 
much civilization. They determined to build for them- 
selves, and bought a site at Svartebugta (the Black Bay), 
where Nansen, as a boy, had often lain in ambush for 
wild duck. While their building operations were in pro- 
gress, they lived in a pavilion close to Lysaker railway 
station — a pavilion which has since been transformed by 
the painter, Otto Sinding, into a comfortable house with 
a splendid studio. But up to this time it had never been 
inhabited. The floor was close to the ground, and it was 
very cold ; the water in the pitchers froze hard every 
night. " That winter," says Mrs. Nansen, " cured me of 
the habit of feeling cold." In this dog-hutch and in this 
biting cold, Nansen set himself down to his book upon 
Greenland — he had no difficulty in recalling the atmos- 
phere of the inland ice. 



196 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

If he took an hour's holiday and became a human 
being again, he repented of it afterward. But he was for- 
ever going over to watch the' progress of the new house, 
in the details and arrangements of which he took a keen 
interest. The " high seat," and the bed, in the old Nor- 
wegian style, were executed from his own designs by 
Borgersen, afterward so well known as a wood-carver. 
The house, which was built by Mrs. Nansen's cousin, 
Architect Welhaven, was finished in March 1890, but 
they had moved into it long before that. ' It was Bjorn- 
stjerne Bjornson who gave it its name. He rose from 
the " high seat," champagne-glass in hand, and said : 
" Godthaab skal det hede ! " (" It shall be called Good 
Hope ! ") 

Godthaab lies in the bight formed by a little projecting 
ness, sheltered and secluded, and quite alone. In front of 
the house is a wooded and grassy slope, leading down to 
the shore, whence the fjord stretches wide and open right 
to Nesodland. Here Nansen had his foot on his own 
ground, and could keep his own boat for sailing on the 
fjord. 

But in the autumn he set off on a long lecturing tour, 
accompanied by his wife. He spoke in Copenhagen, 
London, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Munich, and Ham- 
burg. We have received from one of the most eminent 
geographers in Europe, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, 
a very valuable statement of the impression which Nan- 
sen at this time left behind him in scientific circles. We 
quote from a letter dated May 1 7, 1 896 : — 

" As I have been confined to my room, for several 
weeks, and am not yet permitted to do more than the 
most imperative work, I unfortunately cannot give myself 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 



T97 




nansen's home 



the pleasure of entering upon a detailed account of Dr. 
Nansen's visit to Berlin. I hope, therefore, that you will 
accept in its stead the following brief notes. 

" Fridtjof Nansen was here in November, 1890, two 
years after his memorable crossing of Greenland, and a 
year and a half after his return to Norway. As he 
wanted to complete his book describing the expedition, 
he had hitherto been unable to accept any of the repeated 
invitations he had received to visit Berlin. On Novem- 
ber 8 he lectured before a meeting of the Geographical 
Society. He was warmly received, for we had all fol- 
lowed his daring journey with interest The peculiar 
magic of his personality, which never fails to affect those 



198 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

who stand face to face with him, was strongly felt during 
the delivery of this lecture. He took us all captive by 
the magnetism of his immovable will. We saw in him a 
strong man marching toward a clearly realized goal, and 
clinging with tenacious energy to a well-weighed and 
carefully projected plan. We were strongly impressed 
with this feeling, even as he told of his crossing of Green- 
land, and how he had ' burnt his ships ' before setting 
forth on what was then regarded as a foolhardy act of 
daring. And it was with growing enthusiasm that the 
meeting hung upon his words as he went on to sketch 
in outline his great new scheme for reaching the North 
Pole. Many were of opinion that the enterprise was 
altogether too hazardous, and were doubtful of the prem- 
ises on which he based his belief in its possibility. But 
not one among his hearers doubted that if the thing was 
within the range of human possibility, Nansen was the 
one man predestined to carry it out. On looking into 
the reasons for the brilliant success of his first undertak- 
ing, one could not but recognize that they lay in the 
care with which every detail of the plan was thought out, 
the sedulous forestalling of every possible contingency, 
the physical training which enabled him to cope with all 
physical difificulties, the talent for making the most of 
mechanical aids to locomotion, and finally, the indomita- 
ble strength of will. Although, no doubt, this new pro- 
ject far surpassed the former enterprise in magnitude 
and daring, yet all the precautions necessary to secure 
a fortunate result seemed to have been conceived on a 
proportionally larger scale. 

" Such, my honored friend, is the impression Nansen 
left behind him. No one who was present can ever for- 



200 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

get the picture of the handsome, well-knit young man 
who so modestly told the story of an accomplished feat, 
and sketched in such simple words the outlines of a still 
more daring enterprise. Every one felt fully assured that 
whatever determination, strength, and intelligence can do 
to vanquish the hostile forces of Arctic nature might be 
confidently expected of Fridtjof Nansen. And although 
we cannot quite rid ourselves of the idea that the assump- 
tions on which the scheme is founded are not as yet fully 
established, yet we are convinced that Nansen's clear 
insight will realize the actual conditions when he comes 
face to face with them, and that he will wisely confine 
himself to attempting what is physically possible, instead 
of clinging with stolid obstinacy to the plan once laid 
down. In this confidence, we look forward to seeing 
your gallant young countryman return with a rich harvest 
of scientific results, followed as he is by the warm sympa- 
thy of the whole civilized world. 

" One thing I must add to my account of the impres- 
sion produced by Nansen. I must note the happy com- 
bination in him of a remarkable spirit of enterprise with a 
strong scientific sense. These two qualities are not often 
found together. Especially in our age of athletics, it may 
almost be said to be the rule that the most daring exploits 
— for example, in mountain climbing — are carried out 
purely for their own sake and to satisfy a mere love of 
adventure. So much the more heartily should we ap- 
plaud the man who is impelled by higher motives to the 
conquest of the greatest physical dififiiculties. Nansen's 
lecture left no doubt of his keen interest in, and thor- 
ough understanding of, the problems connected with 
Arctic research. He took especial pains to acquire and 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 201 

communicate a scientific insight into the physical con- 
formation and conditions of Greenland; and he has clearly 
a no less enlightened sense of the scientific significance 
of polar exploration." 

What especially occupied him in these years was the 
preparations for the Polar Expedition. The equipment 
involved an immense expenditure of thought — from the 
construction of the ship to the minutest detail of the com- 
missariat. Even the selection of the crew must have 
meant a great deal of correspondence — no fewer than 
150 foreigners applied for leave to join the expedition. 
The list is headed by Englishmen and Americans, then 
come Germans, Danes, Swedes and Finns, Italians and 
Frenchmen, etc. The labor was enormous. Everything 
had to pass through kis head, every one of the thousand 
details. Compared with this mental toil, the labor of 
dragging the sledges over the Greenland ice fields was 
little more than child's play. It engrossed him day and 
night, and encroached terribly on the few hours that were 
left for his home and his family. The strain upon his 
vital force was incomparably greater than in any of his 
previous efforts. 

In the beginning of 1892 he again set forth on a lectur- 
ing tour, this time in England, the profits going to the 
expedition fund. He spoke in London and in the other 
great towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland, visiting 
Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Hull, New- 
castle, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Bristol, and many other 
places. 

" His lectures," writes a friend in England, " were highly 
appreciated and made a great success. His mastery of 
the English language was remarkable. He made himself 



202 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

thoroughly heard and understood. Of course he read his 
addresses ; but to my thinking his speaking was most 
effective when, at the end of his last lecture before the 
Royal Geographical Society, he laid his manuscript aside. 
It was, in a sense, a farewell to England, inspired by a 
depth of feeling which stirred his audience to enthusiasm. 
I can assure you that when Nansen returns, a magnificent 
reception awaits him in this country." 

Late in the autumn of this year his ship was launched. 

" A whole troop of invited guests," writes Gustaf Ret- 
zius, in the " Aftonblad " for November 3, 1892, " took the 
morning train on October 26, from Christiania to Laurvik. 
There had been ten degrees of frost in the night ; snow 
had fallen, and a thin white veil lay over hill and valley. 
Gradually the mists dispersed, and the morning sun shone 
out with the peculiar softened splendor characteristic of 
a clear winter day. Nansen himself receives us at Laurvik 
station, and leads us to a whale-boat, lying at the pier, 
with a crow's-nest at its fore top. It carries us down the 
fjord, then turns to the left and runs in shore. Here, in 
Raekevik Bay, lies the hull of a ship, shored uj) on the 
beach, with its stern to the sea. It is Fridtjof Hansen's 
new ship, which is now to go off the stocks. The hull is 
high and broad, black below, white above. The three 
goodly masts of American pitch-pine are still lying along- 
side her on the wharf. Three flagstaffs have been erected 
on the deck, two with flags, the one in the middle without. 
It is reserved for the pennant bearing the ship's as yet 
unknown name, which is to be hoisted after the christen- 
ing. There are many speculations as to what the name 
is to be. People guess Eva, Leif, N'orge, and Nordpolen. 

" Thousands of spectators have gathered around Colin 



204 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Archer's wharf, thousands have clambered up on the 
rocks. But around the great vessel lying shored up on 
the slips stand groups of sturdy, figures in working clothes, 
with grizzled hair and furrowed features, carefully examin- 
ing: her lines and build. These are whalers and seal-hunt- 
ers who have year after year braved the dangers of the 
Polar Sea. There are also many workmen among them, 
ship's-carpenters who have helped in the building, and 
who now regard their work with just satisfaction. But the 
master builder is the stately man with the serious refined 
features and the long white beard. It is Colin Archer. 

" Fridtjof Nansen, followed by his wife, now mounts a 
platform erected close to the vessel's bows. Mrs. Nansen 
steps forward, breaks a champagne bottle against the stem 
at one strong blow, and says loud and clear : ' Frani skal 
den hede ' — ' She shall be called Fram.' ^ At the same 
moment the flag is hoisted on the unoccupied flagstaff, 
and the word can be read in white letters upon a red 
ground. The last moorings are now quickly cast off, the 
last supports knocked away, and the great vessel glides, 
at first slowly, then quicker and quicker, stern-foremost, 
down the sharply sloping groove which leads to the water. 
It plunges deeper and deeper. For a moment it almost 
seems as though it were going to sink, or at any rate to 
strike the bottom. But as the stem approaches the water 
the stern rises, and finally the whole vessel floats away, to 
be brought back in a few minutes, laid alongside the 
wharf, and there moored. At the moment when the 
whole bulk of the ship had taken the water, a great wave 
swept shoreward and washed over the rocks and over the 
onlookers who had perched themselves close to the sea. 

1 jpraw = Forwards. 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 205 

We could see them from the distance scrambhng Hke wet 
flies up the shppery rocks. A large boat which had been 
swept ashore by the wave was with difficulty saved, but 
without misadventure. 

*' On the platform, by his wife's side, Fridtjof Nansen 
stood tall and erect, and watched the scene. All eyes 
were bent upon them. We could not but think what 
their feelings must have been at the moment when the 
vessel glided into the sea: feelings of gladness that the 
prologue to the long dark drama that was to be enacted 
in the polar night was now happily concluded ; feelings 
of pain at the thought of the long separation that lay 
before them. 

" For all who were present, it was a moment of deep 
emotion when, amid the booming of guns and the thun- 
dering cheers of the multitude, the Fram plunged into 
the sea and rose again proudly in its freedom. Many 
were afterward heard to say that it was one of the most 
impressive experiences of their lives. As the ship glided 
forth in the silvery light reflected from the calm surface 
of the sea, we seemed, in a flash of foresight, to be read- 
ing the Saga of the future. We seemed to glance down 
the vista of her destiny, to see her, in waters no keel has 
yet furrowed, spreading light over regions no eye has yet 
seen. And when we came to think of the stern realities 
which must one day surround the vessel and its crew on 
their daring quest, the cold, the darkness, the storms, the 
icebergs, and all that follows in their train, we could not 
but feel a touch of awe. But in Fridtjof Nansen's serene, 
unembarrassed, steadfast glance, there was no trace of 
doubt or anxiety. He has the faith and the will-power 
that can move mountains." 



2o6 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Colin Archer, the builder of the Fram, belongs to a 
Scotch family. His name is widely known and highly 
respected in Norway. " It is --not many years since our 
pilot boats were sadly deficient in point both of speed and 
of safety. They were neither well built nor well designed 
for the work they had to do, so that it frequently hap- 
pened that the boat went down and took the pilot with it. 
Mr. Archer devoted himself to the task of furnishing our 
pilots with a faster and safer sea-boat. After more than 
twenty years' work, he has met with such success that 
the pilot can now face almost any weather in one of his 
boats, and that those he leaves at home need no longer 
tremble and turn pale when the surf is lashing and the 
storm sweeping over the sea." 

In a speech which he made that day, Mr. Archer said 
that he would never have been able to solve this peculiar 
problem, so unlike any that he had hitherto attempted, 
if Nansen himself had not furnished him with the key ; 
it was Nansen's constructive sense that had throughout 
pointed the way. But Nansen had no less right on his 
side when he praised Colin Archer's talent, and expressed 
the belief that never before had a ship been built for 
Arctic work with any approach to the care and thought 
which had been devoted to this one. Let us hope that 
Colin Archer's most noteworthy " pilot boat," which is to 
pilot humanity through ice-packed channels and over un- 
known waters, may stand the test as well as the other 
" Archer-boats," its predecessors. 

The Fram, which in reality somewhat resembles a pilot 
boat, is specially designed to play the part allotted it in 
Nansen's general scheme. His idea is not to burst his 
way by force through masses of ice, but to let the Fram 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 207 

lie firmly frozen in and be carried forward by the current. 
It is not a fast ship, then, that he needs, but a vessel 
which can bear an immense pressure of ice without being 
crushed. It had to be so designed that the ice should 
not be able to grip its sides and squeeze them together, 
but should, as it were, wedge itself under the hull and 
force it up out of the water. For this reason the sides 
and bottom are strongly rounded. In order to secure 
the greatest possible strength the ship had to be as small 
as possible, and particularly short in proportion to its 
breadth. . This would facilitate both the raising of the 
hull when the ice got packed under it, and the handling 
of the vessel among the floes when it should be released 
from its ice-berth. 

The Frarns length on deck is 128 feet; length on 
water-line, 113 feet; keel, 102 feet. Her extreme breadth 
is 36 feet ; breadth at water-line, exclusive of ice-skin, 
34 feet ; depth, 1 7 feet. When she is lightly loaded, the 
draft of water is 12^ feet. The keel, which is 14 inches 
by 14 inches, American elm, projects only 3 inches be- 
low the planking, and its edges are well rounded. The 
frames are double, being built chiefly of Italian oak, ob- 
tained from the dockyards at Horten, where it had been 
stored for thirty years. The lining is pitch-pine. The 
outside planking consists of three layers : the inner one 
being 3 inches oak, the middle one 4 inches oak, and 
outside all an ice-skin of greenheart, increasing in thick- 
ness from 3 inches at the keel to 6 inches at the water- 
line. Both bow and stern are protected by a covering 
of iron bars. The total thickness of the ship's sides 
is 24 to 28 inches, and their power of resisting pressure 
is thus very considerable ; but it is greatly increased by 



2o8 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

powerful beams or stays of wood or iron. The hold 
is divided into three water-tight compartments. The 
structural strength of the Fj^am is thus quite exceptional. 
Never before has a vessel been so fortified against the 
attacks of the ice. 

During these years of toil Nansen enjoyed breathing 
spaces, when he gathered his friends around him. These 
pleasant interludes in his work will never be forgotten by 
those who took part in them. They remember the din- 
ner when all the painters — Werenskjold, Eilif Peterssen, 
Skredsvig, Munthe, Sinding — gave themselves up to 
high jinks without beginning or end, when they would 
on no account listen to polite speeches, but rushed into 
the kitchen and set the pump going whenever any one 
began. Nansen was thoroughly at home among the paint- 
ers — he himself dabbled a little in their handicraft,^ and, 
during his Bergen days, had worked in the studio of old 
Schiertz, who thought he had the makings of an artist in 
him. 

They remember, too, that Midsummer Eve, when 
Lammers sang of the hero Roland, and Nansen went 
down to the bonfire and piled on wood. 

By way of exemplifying the hours of relaxation in the 
life of labor depicted in this book, one of the authors 
will note down his recollections of a luncheon party 
at Nansen's house, the day after the launch of the Fram. 

1 Nansen draws excellently; all the plates for his zoological, anatomical, 
and histological essays are drawn by himself. We may mention, as a charac- 
teristic instance of his energy in every department, that he was not content 
with himself making the drawings for his works, but also learned lithography, 
so that, for example, the plates in his principal essay on the nervous system 
are drawn on the stone with his own hand. 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 



209 



It had rained overnight, so that the roads were ankle- 
deep in autumn mud. Nansen himself met us at the 
station in the highest of spirits. 

When we reached his house (a quarter of an hour's 
walk from Lysaker station) it was raining. The fjord 
stretched before us dark and depressing, the gray autumn 
sky seemed to droop disconsolate among the pine stems. 
But in Nansen's study branches and logs were crackling 
and smouldering cosily upon the open hearth. 

Here everything is in old Norse style. Nansen him- 
self, as before mentioned, designed the furniture of light 
pine-wood, beautifully carved with dragon arabesques. 
Over the high seat hangs a tapestry of an antique pat- 
tern. 

Luncheon was served in the cosey little dining-room, 
and merriment was the order of the day. Full justice 
was done to one dish after another ; and Nansen is not 
the man to forget to season the viands with talk. He 
was, of course, still full of memories of the previous day, 
and one incident of the launch after another was related 
and discussed, Mrs. Nansen had to analyze her sensa- 
tions at the moment when she broke the champagne 
bottle against the bow and said : " Fram skal den hede ! " 
Some one else related how Archer was seen to close his 
eyes when the ship began to move ; and so forth. 

When the champagne appeared, Nansen proposed 
Retzius's health, and Retzius thus ended his speech in 
reply : — 

" This is a delightful home of yours, Nansen, and I 

cannot but marvel at your resolution in tearing yourself 

away from it to set forth into the polar winter, and brave 

an unknown fate. You, a biologist, have the sea stretch- 

14 



2IO NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

ing before your very windows, with all its inexhaustible 
and fascinating treasures. Here you are in the midst of 
all your old friends, the majine fauna — with worms, 
mollusks, and mud-eels at your beck and call. We scien- 
tists, who so highly appreciate Nansen the biologist — 
the man who has successfully steered many a voyage of 
exploration over the unknown depths of the biological 
world, and especially through the intricacies of the 
nervous system — cannot quite reconcile ourselves to the 
thought that you are deserting this field of labor to go so 
far and to be absent so long. 

" But you have yourself determined it, you have decreed 
your own destiny. 

" And besides, when the explorer returns from his 
adventurous voyage, the biologist will find the field of 
investigation as rich as ever. You may make your mind 
easy — we who are left at home will not reap the whole 
harvest — there will be plenty left for you to do. We are 
as yet only at the beginning of our work. 

" There is only one thing I fear, and that is that 
Fridtjof Nansen, when he comes back from the North 
Pole, will discover that the earth has a South Pole as 
well." 

As we clink glasses and drink Nansen's health, strange 
thoughts fill our minds. Who knows when this circle of 
friends may meet again 1 Not, at any rate, until one of 
them shall have returned from afar. 

Nansen is, as usual, quiet and at his ease. As the later 
courses come on, we get him to tell us some of his stories. 
He has an unusual gift of oral, no less than of written 
narrative ; he describes picturesquely, with powerful 
touches, and, on occasion, with charming humor. First 



NAA^SEJV AT HOME AND ABROAD 211 

we get him on the polar bears. Then some one asks 
about the time when he and Mrs. Nansen chmbed Nore- 
fjeld on New Year's Eve. 

"Yes, it was really New Year's Eve; it was in 1890, 
Eva and I had gone up to Kroderen for a breath of fresh 




NANSEN AND MRS. NANSEN ON SNOW-SHOES 



air, and we made up our minds to climb Noref jeld — to 
the top of course. We slept at Olberg, and were rather 
lazy in the morning, so that it was about ten o'clock 
before we made a start. And we did n't hurry at all at 
first, so that the day slipped on. It 's something of an 
ascent even in summer; but in winter, when the days are 
short, you have to look sharp if you want to get to the 



212 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

top while it 's light. And then we had taken a course of 
our own — well, it may have been the most direct, but it 
certainly was n't the quickest. -. The snow was very deep, 
and we had n't any guide. At last we could n't possibly 
use our snow-shoes any longer ; it got so steep we had to 
take them off and carry them. But we were bound to do 
it all the same ; you can't face about and leave a thing 
half done, however much ice and frozen snow there may 
be. The last piece almost beat us ; I had to cut our way 
step by step with my staff. I went ahead, Eva followed. 
It reminded me of what the little girl wrote in her school 
essay: 'For every step we went forward, we went two 
steps back. At last we reached the top.' 

" Well, we too reached the top, but it was dark, and we 
had been at it from ten till five with nothing to eat. So 
now we set to and picnicked in the snow and the pitchy 
darkness, on mysost^ and pemmican mixed." 

" You may thank heaven we don't treat you to that 
to-day," said Mrs. Nan sen. 

" Yes, you made wry faces over it, Eva," growled her 
husband. " But it 's all a matter of habit." 

We lingered over our walnuts and our wine while Nan- 
sen continued : " Well, there we two sat alone in the 
snow at the top of Norefjeld, something like 5,000 feet 
above the level of the sea. The frost-wind nipped our 
cheeks, the darkness grew denser and denser. Far away 
in the west there lingered a very, very feeble gleam of day, 
the last in the year. We had to see about getting down 
again. 

" We struck a course more or less in the direction of 
Eggedal. From Hogevarde ^ down into the valley is per- 

> Goat's milk cheese. ^ The top of Norefjeld. 



JVANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 213 

haps about a Norwegian mile/ which would have been 
nothing at all if it had been light. But it was n't so easy 
to find our way in the darkness. 

" Off we plunged into the night, I ahead and Eva fol- 
lowing. We went like the wind over rocks and slopes, 
and it was no joke to keep our balance, I can tell you. 
When you 've been out in the dark for some time, a sort 
of dim shimmer seems to rise from the snow ; you can't 
call it light, but it is n't absolute darkness either. Heaven 
knows how we managed to get along sometimes, but man- 
age we did. All of a sudden I had to stop short, and 
shout to Eva. It was too steep for snow-shoes, there was 
nothing for it but to sit down and slide. It 's not good 
for your trousers, but it 's safer in the dark. 

" The wind nipped our ears till they tingled, for it was 
freezing like anything ; and on we went. Suddenly, as 
we were going at full speed, my hat blew off — a little 
gray hat of the sort I usually wear. 

" So I had to put the brake on, and get to my legs again. 
Far up I saw something black upon the snow, scrambled 
up to it, seized it, and found it was a stone. The hat must 
be farther back — yes, there it was. Again I clutched at 
a stone. Hats seemed to swarm all over the snow ; but 
when I came to put them on they all turned to stones. 
Stones for bread may be bad enough, but stones for hats 
are not a whit better. There was nothing for it but to 
go ahead hatless. 

" Eva remained where I had left her. ' Eva ! ' I shouted, 
' Eva ! ' The answer came from far, far below. 

" There seemed to be no end to that mile. But we 
managed to keep going somehow ; and now. and the.n we 

1 Seven Ensrlish miles.. 



214 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

could use our snow-shoes too. All of a sudden the ground 
seemed to fall away at our feet ; we stopped at the verge 
of a precipitous bank — how iMgh it was we could n't see, 
but over it we had to go, one first, the other after. The 
snow was deep, and when that is so, you can clear incred- 
ible distances. 

" We had long ago lost our bearings, if we had ever had 
any. We only knew that we must go ahead. At last we 
came to a dead fix. Eva had once more to sit and wait 
while I cast about for a way. I went groping around in 
the darkness and was a long time gone. All of a sudden 
a thought struck me : suppose she were to fall asleep ! 
Such things have been known to happen, and she must 
be dead tired. ' Eva, Eva ! ' I shouted. ' Yes ! ' she an- 
swered right enough, but this time from far, far above. If 
she had fallen asleep I don't know that I could ever have 
found her again. As it was I groped my way up to her, 
brin2:inor with me the o-ood news that I had found a water- 
course. I won't say that a watercourse is the best possi- 
ble snow-shoe course, especially in pitchy darkness, when 
your stomach is empty and your conscience ill at ease — 
for this was really a reckless piece of work. But some- 
how or other we did contrive to make our way down the 
watercourse. 

" Now we were among the birch-trees, and at last we 
struck upon a road. So the worst was over. Far doMai, 
we came upon a hut. I thought it looked cosey enough, 
but Eva said it was dirty and horrid. And now she was 
quite lively; she was determined to push on. Just like a 
woman. 

•" To make a long story short, we at last reached the 
parish clerk's house in Eggedal. It was now late at night, 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 215 

SO we had to wake the people up. The parish clerk was 
quite frightened when he heard we had come from the top 
of Norefjeld. 

" This time Eva was not so particular about her night's 
lodging. She had no sooner sat down in a chair than she 
fell asleep ; it was twelve at night, and she had been on 
her feet for fourteen hours. 

" ' He 's quite worn out, poor boy,' said the parish clerk ; 
for Eva was wearing a gray snow-shoeing dress, with a 
short skirt and trousers. 

" ' It is my wife,' said I. 

" You should have heard the exclamations. ' Oh Lord, 
oh Lord, you don't mean to say so ! Think of dragging 
your wife with you over the top of Norefjeld on New 
Year's Eve ! ' 

" But now came supper — and as soon as she smelled 
that it was not mysost and pemmican she wakened up. 

" It ended in our resting three days at the parish clerk's 
— and that was our New Year's Eve ascent of Norefjeld. 
I thought it great fun ; but I don't know what Eva would 
say. 

" When we left Eggedal the poor boy and I drove down 
Numedal to Kongsberg, and the boy was almost frozen to 
death. 

" But one has to go through a little hardship now and 
then to enjoy life properly after it. If you don't know 
what cold is, neither do you know what it is to be warm." 

The time draws on for the great departure. The sum- 
mer of 1893 has come. In the evenings, while his secre- 
tary is writing at full speed, and Nansen is walking up 
and down directing and dictating, he will suddenly slip 



2i6 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

out and appear on the slope in front of the house. Here 
planting is going on — gooseberry and currant bushes, 
apple and pear trees. Nansen --himself points out to the 
gardener where every tree, every bush is to stand. " It will 
be splendid soil," says the man, as he fills the holes with 
mould mixed with seaweed. " Oh yes, I hope they '11 grow," 
says Nansen. The evening sun throws long shadows 
from the great pine stems in front of the house, the waves 
wash softly, in a long slow swell, against the beach. The 
nurse comes out of the house carrying little Liv, who is to 
be put to bed. 

How long will be the shadows cast by these bushes and 
trees before he comes back ? How many evenings will 
the sun disappear behind the ridge, before current and 
wind and wave bring his ship home again ? Evening after 
evening, month after month, year after year ! 

On Midsummer Day the Fram lies at Pipervik ready 
to start. Only a small group of Christiania people have 
gathered to stare at the clumsy-looking ship, which still 
lies at its berth long after the time appointed for the start. 

So slight is the notice taken of an achievement in the 
bud. When he comes back again, all Christiania will turn 
out to receive him. But men are always so. As though 
it were nothing to conceive this great design, to take this 
immense responsibility, to bear all burdens until you are 
ready to drop under them — and to stand erect on the 
quarter-deck and take your life in your hands. There 
were not many that day who remembered the old saying 
which had been cited at Raekevik when the Fram was 
launched : " Magnos homines virtute metimur^ non for- 
tunar (We judge great men by their virtue, not by their 
luck.) 



NANSEN AT HOME AND ABROAD 217 

But among those who had gathered to see Nansen off 
were many members of the Storthing, By two resolu- 
tions, which must be reckoned to the credit of so small a 
people, the Storthing had contributed a sum of about 
$75,000 to the expenses of the expedition. To-day it had 
adjourned in order to bid farewell to its leader. But 
Nansen had not been informed of this, and had not yet 
come on board. The members of the Storthing waited 
for hours, and at last could wait no longer. 

Even at the last moment there were details of business 
that Nansen had to attend to. The whole morning 
passed, and he had had scarcely a moment to exchange 
a word with his wife. The farewell was of the shortest. 
When he came downstairs, little Liv was brought to him 
smiling. He took the child in his arms : " Ah yes, you 
laugh, Liv, but I ! " He sobbed. 

Then he jumped into the little petroleum launch, 
steamed up the fjord, boarded the Fram, taking no notice 
of any one, went up to the bridge, and gave orders for the 
start. Those who saw his face at that moment will never 
forget it. 

One picture from his story of that New Year's Eve ex- 
pedition has often risen before our minds during these 
years of waiting. She sits alone upon the mountain, and 
gazes forth into the impenetrable darkness, so long, so 
long. Then a voice is heard from far off on the snow- 
field. He is there ! He is coming ! 



CHAPTER XII 

ON BOARD THE " FRAM " 

The wind had been right ahead the whole day, writes 
Professor W. C. Brbgger, ever since we started from 
Landegode. We had first made a tack under full sail 
right across the Vestfjord toward Moskenses Island, and 
had now put about, and were heading straight for the 
passage southeast of Skraaven. 

The steady fresh breeze had swept the sky clean, and 
lifted the sea into foam-topped waves which plashed 
monotonously against the broad bow of the Fram, as she 
ploughed her way through them, as heavy as an old 
Dutch galliot and as steady as a rock. 

Up on the bridge the pilot, Haagensen, was pacing to 
and fro in sturdy security, now and then shouting an 
order to the man at the wheel in his homely Nordland 
dialect. But the fairway was at this point so clear that 
there was not very much for a pilot to do — a wide chan- 
nel in front, and a steady wind blowing, hour after hour. 

At the end of the bridge Nansen had rigged up for 
himself an open-air studio — an easel and a few boxes of 
pastel colors — and here he sat the whole evening, and 
well on into the night, in his yellow-gray silk mackintosh, 
heedless of the cold wind (which, however, was gradually 
dropping), dabbing on colors, and smudging with his fin- 
ger-tips on the sandpaper, so intently and indefatigably 
that he rubbed the skin off. The blood trickled from the 



ON BOARD THE ''FRAW 



19 




THE "tram" in liEKCEN 



abrasion, and made a broad red stripe down the sky of 
his landscape. 

And the landscape the Fram was passing was indeed 
worth painting in its sunset radiance. No pen could 
possibly draw a true picture of its ever-changing splendor 
of form and hue. 



220 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Eastward, illumined by the reflection of the sinking 
sun, rose the whole mighty array of the crests, and peaks, 
and summits of the mainland ; while to the west, the end- 
less snow-flecked Lofoten-Wall loomed dark and threat- 
ening, a chain of Alps springing right up from the sea. 
The sun was so low that the island mountains lay en- 
tirely in the shadow, dark purple silhouettes against the 
marvellously soft and shifting colors of the evening sky. 

Over the highest peaks hung heavy grayish white 
masses of cloud, now melting into the strips of snow, 
which formed a delicate lace-like collar around the shoul- 
ders of Vaagekallen, now transpierced by the smouldering 
glow of the evening sun, which, down toward Moskenses 
Island, formed a continuous broad band of gold over the 
low-lying banks of mist, like the reflection of a sea of fire 
in the far distance. 

Above our heads stretched the pale evening sky, 
toning off into greenish blue and the most delicate rose- 
pink, so cloudless, and bright, and pure, that it seemed 
as though Heaven had specially willed that Nansen and 
his comrades should see our land at its very loveliest, 
without stain or flaw, before they bade it farewell. And 
beneath us leaped the glorious sea, still crisping into 
foam-crests that shone white on the dark blue ground — 
our forefathers' royal road to " fame and might," ^ the road 
on which the Pram was now covering the first stages of 
her way to immortality. 

The Fram plodded doggedly on toward Skraaven. 
Hour after hour the strange sharp peak stood out right 
ahead of us, seeming always to recede as we advanced. 

^ An allusion to the Danish national song, Kong Christian stod ved hbjen 
Mast. 



0.N BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 221 

The Fram^ as we know, does not pretend to be a clipper. 
She has no occasion for speed, she has the years before 
her. Right you are, Fram ! Slow and sure wins in the 
end, Chi va piano va sano, cJii va forte va ifi niorte. 

The Fram was now comparatively trim and ship-shape; 
Sverdrup himself had superintended the cleaning process, 
and worked the hose the whole afternoon, while Gjertsen 
followed him with the mop, and whole rivers of water 
poured through the scuppers, carrying with them all 
superfluities. I should not like to swear that they did 
not now and then squirt a drop or two among Nansen's 
pastels, when they happened to pass under the bridge ; 
but it could not be helped — the Fram had to bestir her- 
self in order to look presentable when she got to Tromso, 
and a daily scouring was necessary to remove all traces 
of the coal-shifting operations in Naerosund. 

Now the coal was finally stowed away in the hold, and 
the greater part of the dried fish cleared from the deck 
both fore and aft, so that the ship began to look fairly 
habitable again. This clearing up had cost a good deal 
of trouble, for the crew was small, and things were not 
yet quite in working order. The chief difficulty lay in 
the fact that the cargo was so exceedingly heterogeneous. 
It is not so easy to get everything into order when an 
exact account has to be kept of where all the innumer- 
able articles are stowed, so that they may alwa3^s be at 
hand when needed, perhaps in the moment of danger. 
Thus every one had his own department to attend to in 
addition to the general work of the ship, and the average 
day was anything but a holiday. 

Even now, one or two had not yet finished their day's 
work. The first mate was busy carpentering. Little 



2 22 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Scott Hansen was every one's favorite ; although a mere 
boy to undertake such a voyage, — he was only twenty- 
five, — he did his man's work with the best of them. He 
was always in good humor, always friendly and pleasant 
to every one ; but his eyes would beam with affection 
when they fell upon the barometers and chronometers 
and all his other dear instruments up in the chart-room, 
which had been placed under his care. He was to be . 
both astronomer and meteorologist — and first mate into 
the bargain, and a little of everything else. He was 
expecting to meet Professor Mohn next day up at Lodin- 
gen, and was consequently very busy putting together a 
cage for his thermometers, planing and nailing away until 
far on in the evening. 

There was not much room on the deck of the Fram ; 
indeed, there was scarcely a spot that was not cumbered 
with deck cargo of all sorts. Almost the whole space for- 
ward was taken up with the supports for the longboats, 
and the superstructures over the hold, to say nothing of 
an immense number of odds and ends, such as a huge pair 
of bellows, a spare crow's-nest, a great tool-chest, etc. 
But aft it was even worse — what with a stack of timber 
(planks, beams, etc.), a number of large beer-barrels (a 
steadily diminishing number, it must be admitted), the 
huge spare rudder and spare propeller, several parts of the 
great windmill for generating electricity when the coal is 
exhausted, capacious tanks for petroleum and gas oil, one 
of the boats, and finally, under the bridge, a whole pile of 
dried fish to feed the dogs who were to be taken on board 
at Yugor Strait. 

Around the wheel, however, was a small open space 
built in with deck cargo, where one could actually put 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM" 223 

one's foot on the deck and sit cosily sheltered from the 
wind. This was the favorite evening rendezvous of those 
who had time to spare for a smoke and a chat. 

Here we sat this evening in the twilight, while the 
Fram buffeted its way through the seas under the Lofo- 
ten-Wall — Hendriksen, Gjertsen, Jacobsen, Christiansen 
(one of the Greenland party), and I. The pipes were in 
full blast and the talk in full swing. 

Jacobsen was a capital narrator, when you could work 
him up to the point, which was not every day. He had 
seen a great deal of the world between the South Pole 
and the North, and had an unusually rich stock of expe- 
riences to draw upon. Whether he was recounting his 
adventures among the Maories of New Zealand or among 
the ice floes of Nova Zembla, he always managed to put 
an extraordinary amount of life into the situation, and to 
transport his hearers into the thick of it. This evening 
he was telling the story of . his polar-bear hunts, with one 
of the Bourbon princes, on Spitzbergen, and he graphi- 
cally depicted for us all the manners and customs of the 
polar bear, its spirit of inquiry and its clumsy cunning. I 
have since read somewhere that at parting the prince pre- 
sented him with his own gold watch ; of that he said 
nothing, and I saw nothing of it while I was on board the 
Fram. 

Polar bears being the topic, first one and then another 
contributed something of his own experiences. 

" How many bears have you shot, Hendriksen, roughly 
speaking ? " asks the mate. 

Hendriksen was a Balsfjord man ; the shape of his fore- 
head, his broad cheek bones, and the whole type of his 
physiognomy seemed to indicate that he had Qusen blood 



224 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 




in his veins. Be this as it may, he was a good-natured 
and genial fellow, and one who could put his shoulder to 
the wheel to some purpose when strength was needed. 
He had now sailed the Arctic Sea in every direction for 
fourteen consecutive seasons, ever since he was nineteen ; 

during all these years he had 
never felt the heat of summer, 
until he had come south for 
a short time to help in fitting 
out the Fram. 

He was not a man of many 
words, but it was easy to see 
that he was by no means 
yearning to repeat his expe- 
rience of the summer tem- 
perature. He was one of 
those members of the crew 
who preferred to pass the 
night in one of the " hotels " 
on deck, either in the Grand Hotel or in Gravesen's — so 
they had christened the two longboats. It is true that 
these boats were deeply padded with all sorts of pack- 
ages of furs, so that you could no doubt make yourself 
a comfortable enough bed among them, when once you 
had wormed your way down through the layers of hand- 
sledges, snow-shoes, kaiaks, and other Arctic appliances 
which were piled up in these airy hanging hotels a la 
Semiramis. 

" I 've never kept count of them," answered the giant 
evasively. 

" I dare say you may put it at fifty at least," said the 
mate. 



LIEUT. JOHANSEN 
(Nansen's sole companion on liis sledge expe- 
dition after leaving the " Fram ") 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 225 

" Oh no ! perhaps something hke forty — white bears, 
I mean," he added, as though a mere white bear were 
scarcely worth speaking about. 

" Have any of you shot brown bears then ? " I asked. 

" Yes, Mogstad has killed several," replied the mate. 
" The first one, he had another man to help him, but that 
was when he was only sixteen. Five or six years after- 
ward he kept a bear barricaded in his lair for a whole 
month, and then let him out, and put a bullet in him as 
he ran. Oh, he 's a rare hand at all sorts of things, is 
Mogstad — you won't easily find him at a loss." 

" But Sverdrup has shot brown bears too ! " remarked 
Christiansen, who was now at the wheel and had hitherto 
not opened his mouth. He and Sverdrup were both 
Bindal men, so he felt he must stand up for his district ; 
as a rule it was not easy to get a word out of him. He 
was evidently suffering agonies of indecision as to 
whether he should go on with the ship or not, although 
he had declared in advance that he would go no farther 
than Tromso. Not that the Greenland trip had fright- 
ened him off — it was other hindrances that stood in his 
way. 

Sverdrup had now relieved the pilot, and was pacing 
backward and forward on the bridge, with an even, slow 
step. The Fram and he are in reality not unlike each 
other ; the same indescribable air of solidity and security 
breathes around them both. Each has a very thick outer 
hull, but within all is snug and warm and sound. Now 
and again he stops beside Nansen, and watches him min- 
gling the colors on his paper, but as a rule says nothing 
and resumes his walk, casting quick searching glances 
ahead over the sea. 
IS 



2 26 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Whoever has seen Sverdrup on board the Fram knows 
well that he is the right man in the right place. The 
Fram is no luxurious pleasure-yacht, nor is Sverdrup a 
model of courtly elegance — but you may be sure that 

Afloat 'twixt sky and sea, 
The first of men is he. 

About the wheel the talk went merrily, undisturbed by 
wind or weather. The waves kept on gurgling up into 
the rudder hole, which, besides fulfilling its original pur- 
pose, served as a gigantic spittoon. Now and again an 
extra puff of wind would come, and the rigging would 
creak as the sails tightened ; while the throb of the pis- 
tons in the engine-room supjDlied a monotonous accom- 
paniment. Behind the pile of planks and the boat which 
shut us off from the bulwarks, we could hear Kvik, the 
Greenland dog, snoring and growling in his sleep, keep- 
ing up a sort of murmur of contentment, now and then 
interrupted by a short bark. 

"That confounded cur!" said the mate. "What do you 
think he 's done to-day ? Eaten up the soles of a pair of 
bran new slippers that Amundsen had got from his wife." 

Kvik was everybody's favorite on board ; but he had an 
unfortunate habit of devouring whatever he came across 
in the way of leather or skins, without the smallest re- 
spect of persons. Field-glass straps and shoe-soles, port- 
manteaus and portfolios, everything that was made of an 
animal's skin was for him a dainty scarcely to be resisted, 
though he knew that indulgence w^ould be followed by a 
beating. After all, he had to lay in strength for the 
voyage. Young as he was, he had seen more of the 
world than most dogs or men, having travelled from East 
Greenland to Copenhagen with the Ryder Expedition, 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 227 

then from Copenhagen to Lysaker ; and now he was on 
his way from Lysaker to the Polar Sea. 

" Amundsen is married, is he ? " I asked. 

" Why, of course he is ! He 's the most married of the 
whole lot of us. He has a wife and six children. It 's 
a wonder he can leave such a lot at home for so long 
a time." 

" Has he been north before } " 

" Yes, he was out sealing with the Diana one season, 
and then last year he went to the Yenisei with a cargo 
from Shields. Oh yes, he 's quite at home in the high 
latitudes, he is." 

" Juell, the steward, is he married too } " 

" Why of course he is — married and has children," said 
Gjertsen. " That fine figure of a woman you saw on 
board on the way from Christiania to Horten, you know 

— that 's his wife. She 's been a lot about with him, too. 
A few years ago she went with him right to the Gold 
Coast, and when they were going ashore, Juell thought he 
should never see his wife again — for all of a sudden the 
boatmen, the niggers you know, as naked as my hand, 
took and seized her in their arms and jumped into the 
water with her. Juell believed he 'd seen the last of her ; 
for you know, she 's uncommonly plump and appetizing, 
and he thought no doubt they were cannibals, these 
fellows." 

" Then a great many of you are married ? " I said. 

" Oh yes, we 've almost all got some one to leave be- 
hind," answered Hendriksen. " Amundsen heads the list, 
he does, for he has five or six children ; then Nordal has 
five, Juell and I have four apiece, and then — let me see 

— Petterson has two I think, and " 



228 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

" And Nansen and I have one apiece," added the mate. 

My thoughts flew back to Httle Liv, and I turned my 
head and saw him still sitting up there upon the bridge, 
busy with his painting, as though he had never in his life 
done anything else. He had taken off his cap in order 
to see better, and was shading the picture with his arm 
or looking through the hollow of his hand to get a con- 
centrated impression of the color. His bust stood out 
boldly, the massive head with the short-clipped hair show- 
ing in sharp outline against the indescribably pure and 
clear colors of the evening sky. Were his thoughts bent 
on his distant goal, or were they at home with little Liv 
in her cradle 1 

The evening air began to grow chill, so I rose to go 
below and get hold of my greatcoat. As before men- 
tioned, it was no easy matter to make your way about on 
the deck of the Fram ; so I remarked jokingly, " One 
would need either four legs or a pair of wings to get 
about among all this litter." 

"You should do as Johansen did," answered the mate. 
" He walked on his hands the other day up the steps from 
the fo'c'sle, across the whole of the forward deck, up the 
steps to the after deck, and down the companion into the 
cabin : and I 'm bothered if he was even red in the face 
when he put his feet down again upon the floor of the 
saloon." 

" Oh, that 's nothing for Johansen, he 's the first gym- 
nast in Norway," remarked Gjertsen. " In Paris, he 
made a clean somersault over forty-two men, so that the 
Frenchmen thought there would be nothing but a wet 
spot left when he came down. But he fell on his feet, 
as right as possible. He got a gold medal for that, too ! " 



ON BOARD THE ''FRAM'' 229 

" Amundsen is not bad at that sort of thing, either, you 
know. What do you think he did the other day down at 
Rorvik, while we were loading all that beastly coal ? He 
was up in the main-top and wanted to come down to the 
deck, forward. Confound me if he did n't slide down the 
stay from the main- top to the fore-top, holding on by his 
hands alone all the way ! There is n't another man on 
board could have done it ; but Amundsen's fists are as 
hard as shoe leather, and no mistake. And then, of 
course, he 's a bit lighter than I am, for example," said 
Gjertsen. 

I, unable to emulate either of these feats, made my way 
as well as I could over the obstacles that bestrewed the 
after deck, past the chart-room, in the open doorway of 
which several powder-casks were piled up drying, and 
down the cabin corripanion — a journey which, if it did 
not require a gymnast of the first rank, was certainly not 
to be recommended to a gouty subject or a fat man. 

The cabin steps went right past the galley, where Juell 
was at that moment deep in his culinary occupations. 
A tempting smell of cooking greeted my nostrils, and I 
looked in for a moment to warm myself a little and have 
a chat. 

Juell stood in his shirt-sleeves busy at his work, the 
perspiration pouring down his high forehead, and his heavy 
mustaches drooping like a bridle from the corners of his 
mouth. 

'* Nice and warm here, Juell," said I. 

" Warm ! I should think it was ! When all the pots are 
boiling for dinner I believe the devil himself would singe 
his nose if he poked it in here. It 's the hardest job I 've 
ever had in my life. I 've made many a voyage in my 



230 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



day, but this is the first time I 've shipped as cook, and if 
I come safe and sound back again, it shall be the last 
time ! Take my advice, Professor, and never be a cook, 
whatever you are." 

"No, no, Juell — we can't all be tailors, you know. I 

don't suppose I 'm in 
much danger of re- 
ceiving an appoint- 
ment as chef. But 
when you come home 
again, Juell, I hope I 
shall be able to give 
you a dinner and say 
tak for sidst} and 
thank you for all 
the good dinners on 
board the Fram^ 

" Thanks for the 

invitation," answered 

Juell. " But it won't be for some time yet, I 'm afraid. If 

only Peik here will hold out till we come back, I dare say 

it won't be such a bad trip after all." 

" Peik " was the popular name for an insulated cooking- 
apparatus, of Finne's invention, a great contrivance which 
held the warmth very long. Nansen took a lively interest 
in it, and several times, while I was on board, assisted at 
the cooking of the dinner, in order to familiarize himself 
with the working of Peik. And Peik cooked many excel- 
lent things. The fare on boai;d the Fram, in spite of Juell's 
apologies for his deficiencies as a culinary artist, was really 
capital and not at all monotonous. The menu generally 

^ " Thanks for our last meeting " — a common form of salutation. 




KITCHEN OF THE " FNAM 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 231 

consisted of soup or fish, and a dish of meat, with half a 
bottle of beer a head, so long as the beer lasted. I re- 
member, for instance, that the first dinner I ate on board 
consisted of tinned fish-puddings from Stavanger, tinned 
rabbit from Australia, and wild ducks which Nansen had 
shot on the way. A great variety of German preserved 
vegetables were used in the soups, and American cran- 
berry jam was often served with the meat. The provision- 
ing of the ship, like all the rest of its equipment, was most 
carefully thought out in all its details. There was a par- 
ticularly large supply of vegetables and of fatty matter, 
so that, so long as it stuck to the Fram, the expedition 
should not suffer from " fat-hunger," as the Greenland 
explorers had suffered. There were no less than 13,000 
lbs. of butter on board, one third of it the best Danish 
butter, and the rest superfine margarine, a present from 
Pellerin & Co. While I was on board we ate nothing but 
this margarine ; it was of such excellent quality that I do 
not think any one would have taken it for artificial butter, 
unless he had been told. 

On the whole, the ship was lavishly provisioned ; you 
could scarcely name a thing that was not in stock, and 
generally in considerable quantities. One thing, however, 
was entirely absent, and that was alcohol — for drink- 
ing, that is to say. The spirits for preserving " speci- 
mens " would scarcely come under the heading of com- 
missariat. 

A passing steamer in Trondhjem Fjord had thrown us a 
bottle of port wine, bidding us drink it at the North Pole. 
This was — with the exception of the beer, which was 
calculated to last for a couple of months — all the drink- 
able alcohol on board. " You must lay in one or two 



232 A^ANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

bottles of champagne in Tromso, Nansen," I said one day 
in a joke, " to drink a skaal for Gamle Norge^ when you 
hoist your fiag on the axis of the earth." " I was think- 
ing of smuggHng on board one or two bottles of brandy 
for Christmas Eve," he answered; "but you need n't speak 
about it to the men." The doctor afterwards swore me 
to secrecy, and told me that he, too, intended to smuggle 
a bottle or so on board at Tromso. 

I can see in my mind's eye the saloon on Christmas 
Eve, with the steaming toddy on the table. If I know 
Nansen aright, the dose for each man will be of the 
homoeopathic order. How clearly it stands forth in my 
memory, that cosey little low-roofed cabin, with the small 
state-rooms around it ! 

" Saloon " is a misleading word to use. The Frams 
saloon was little more than a cot. But the thought of the 
high endeavor to which it was dedicated made it seem 
loftier and more spacious than the most majestic hall. In 
itself, too, it was a cosey little retreat, exceedingly pleasant 
to creep down into when it was too raw and cold and wet 
to remain on deck. 

On the front wall of the saloon, between the two 
entrance doors, was placed a long sofa with high end- 
posts carved into dragons' heads. It was covered with a 
heavy rug of bright Norwegian colors. In front of it 
stood the long narrow dining-table ; by making ourselves 
as small as possible, we could all (except those on watch) 
sit down to it at once. The table-service was the same 
for all dishes ; an enamelled tin plate and a big enamelled 
cup. 

Over the middle of the sofa hung, in a frame, an ad- 



ON BOARD THE " FRAM" 



233 



mirably painted design for tapestry, by Gerhard Munthe, 
representing three fairy-tale princesses surprised by three 
princes transformed into bears. To the left of this little 
masterpiece hung a woodland scene by Eilif Peterssen, 
and on the right a delicate sketch in colored chalks by 
Skredsvig, representing the point and landing-stage at 




SALOON ON THK " FRAM " 



Nansen's home at Lysaker, with, under it, a study from 
Jasderen by Kitty Kielland. 

Against the right hand wall stood an harmonium made 
by Nystrom & Co., of Karlstad. It was arranged so that 
it could be played either by means of the keys like a 
piano, or with a handle, like a barrel-organ, the tune being 
determined by a strip of perforated paper. Its repertory 
consisted of over a hundred pieces, from the minuet in 
Don Giovanni and airs from Der Freischutz, down to the 
commonest dance tunes. As an institution, however, it 
did not seem to be particularly popular ; at any rate there 
was a unanimous movement on board for buying a con- 
certina in Tromso, and great expectations were abroad as 



234 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

to what Mogstad would do with his violin when he joined 
the ship. 

Over the harmonium hung a picture by Hansteen, and 
between the door of Scott Hansen's comfortable and taste- 
fully arranged cabin and the back wall of the saloon hung 
a little woodland sketch, also by Hansteen ; while over the 
stove (a petroleum pipe-stove made by Blunck, which 
served at the same time as a ventilating apparatus), in the 
middle of the back wall, hung a third painting, a study of 
birch-stems, by the same artist. 

On the left wall, between the entrance to Dr. Blessing's 
and Sverdrup's cabins, was fixed a stand with seven Krag- 
Jorgensen carbines. These, however, were only a small 
portion of the ship's armament, which consisted in all of 
no fewer than thirty-two rifles and twenty-four revolvers, 
all of the best quality, to say nothing of two cannons, and 
a great store of ammunition. 

Above the stand of guns hung another charming pic- 
ture by Skredsvig — the fir-trees in front of Nansen's 
house, a winter landscape with snow. 

A little way from the table, the great mast divided the 
saloon into two parts. It was surrounded by a quite nar- 
row upholstered seat, which, however, was seldom used. 
Loose stools were scattered about the cabin. 

Light was supplied at night by several incandescent 
electric lamps over the sofa. The great arc lamp was not 
used while I was on board. 

One other detail must not be omitted : the Norwegian 
lion on a red background in the skylight over the stove. 

Such was the saloon of the Fram. The roof was so low 
that Gjertsen, Hendriksen, and Juell could touch it with 
their hats, and so narrow that at scarcely any part of it 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 235 

could two couples pass each other without turning side- 
ways. 

How every little detail between these low walls has fixed 
itself in my memory, from the half-frightened, half-curious 
expression on the faces of Munthe's princesses, to the 
check rug on the sofa seat, which, however, Nansen used to 
turn wrong side up every day, for he found that the many 
pairs of coal-dusty and tarry trousers left too obvious traces 
on the pattern, and were already beginning to soften the 
gay colors rather too much. " It 's got to last till we come 
back again," said Nansen, " so we must be sparing of our 
splendors." 

In the saloon I found the supper-table still spread, al- 
though it was already pretty late. The engineers who 
had been on duty had come up to have supper and draw 
a breath of fresh air, which they had well earned ; for the 
stoke-hole of the Fram, a paradise no doubt in the polar 
winter so long as the coal lasts, must in these more south- 
erly latitudes and in summer have seemed very much the 
reverse. 

There they sat, then, the two athletes aforesaid. Engi- 
neer Amundsen and Lieutenant and Stoker Johansen, 
enjoying their rest and their supper. Presently in came 
Scott Hansen and Dr. Blessing, and w^e got a warm cup 
of tea from the steward and attacked the supper manfully 
— I, indeed, for the second time. 

I knew that I should probably eat only one more supper 
on board the Fram, and recollections streamed in upon 
me of my days on board, which had passed so quickly, 
along with many a thought of the days that were as yet 
hidden in the mists of the future. In the mean time, the 
supper and the talk went on as usual, Juell going back- 



236 NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

ward and forward and assisting in both. The talk ran 
on all sorts of topics, but of course chiefly on the Fram 
and everything connected with her. Now the petroleum 
launch was the theme — one held that it was a wretched 
affair altogether, that it was quite impossible to keep it 
clean, and that after you had used it once, it took half a 
day to make it fit for use again, while another defended 
it and maintained that, with its great speed, it would be 
invaluable for reconnaissances, etc. Then some one de- 
scribed what a sharp look-out you had to keep among the 
open lanes in the ice, how it felt to get into an Arctic fog, 
and so forth. 

I was to take no part in all this, so felt myself rather 
outside the conversation. I turned to the doctor and 
said, " Tak for maden} doctor. It will probably be a long 
time before you and I have supper together again on 
board the Fram'' 

" Two summers, I expect," said the doctor, with his 
usual cheery confidence. 

" If you have good luck, perhaps you '11 be back next 
autumn," said I. 

" That would be the devil's own luck," was the answer. 

" No luck at all," Amundsen put in. " If anything 
worth while is to come of the trip, we must be away two 
years at the very least." 

A hearty burst of laughter greeted Amundsen's frank 
prognostication. His view of the matter was undeniably 
both a stoical and a practical one. 

After supper I went into my cabin to rest a little and 
get out my overcoat before going on deck again. Nan- 
sen had given up his own cabin to me, and slept in 

^ " Thanks for the food ! " — a formula always used at the end of a meal. 



ON BOARD THE " FRAM'' 



237 



the deck-house while I was on board. The door to his 
cabin was on the right, well forward in the saloon, and, 
like all the doors in the Fram, was immensely solid, with 
a high threshold. None of the cabins had any sort of 
window (the sides of the ship were twenty-four inches 
thick), and when the door was closed the only means of 
ventilation was a couple of small holes in the door itself. 
It was of course pitch dark, too, unless the incandescent 
lamps, with which each cabin was provided, were lighted. 
When you entered the cabin and turned the knob for 




nansen's study on the "fram." 



the electric light, the first thing it shone upon was an ad- 
mirable drawing by Werenskjold : " Eva with little Liv in 
her lap." Thus all that was dearest in the world con- 
fronted him the moment he put his head in at the cabin 
door. I well remember one morning when he came to 
fetch something before I had got up. He turned the but- 
ton while still in the doorway and began to chat with me ; 



238 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

but I saw where his eyes fell, and where his thoughts 
were. 

Under the picture was a bench, a sofa by day, a bed by 
night. Here were no soft spring mattresses, only a stuffed 
pallet with a pair of warm blankets and a single very 
meagre pillow. But how sound one could sleep on this 
simple couch — that is to say, when the Fram was not 
rolling so as to land one on the floor every now and then. 

For the Fram could roll, at any rate before the cargo 
was shifted in the N^rbsund. 

Scott Hansen declared that she had described an angle 
of forty-six degrees in a heavy sea off Lister. It must 
have been an uncomfortable night ; the whole forward 
deck was deep in water, so that the deck cargo was wash- 
ing about from one side to the other, and at last there was 
nothing for it but to throw overboard a number of paraffin 
barrels. Fortunately they were only empty barrels in- 
tended for preserving the skins of bears, seals, walruses, 
and other game ; and there were plenty of them left. 
Even while I was on board the Fram, she rolled a good 
deal one night, although it was not blowing particularly 
hard, and the sea did not run 'very high — indeed, there 
was only a long swell. In crossing the Vestfjord, on the 
other hand, when it was blowing quite fresh, the ship was 
as steady as a rock the moment she was under full sail. 
She was, indeed, a strange, a unique vessel. Sverdrup, 
who, as a rule, said little enough, could not help now and 
then giving expression to his affectionate surprise in a 
subdued " She 's a rare little craft, and no mistake ! " 

But to return to Nansen's cabin. On one side of- the 
end wall was a cupboard containing the cash-box, papers, 
diaries, etc., the key of which was in Nansen's own keep- 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM'' 239 

ing ; on the other side, near the head of the bed or sofa, 
was a bookcase with a rich selection of Hterature of many- 
kinds. Numbers of books had been presented to the 
Fravt by Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish pubhshers and 
others. The tolerably extensive library thus formed was 
always at the disposal of the crew. Besides, the doctor 
had his own medical library in his cabin, and Scott 
Hansen kept a collection of books, mainly meteorological 
and astronomical, along with the charts in the chart-room. 
But Nansen had picked out for his own use a number of 
books which he kept in his cabin. They were for the 
most part, of course, geographical, geological, zoological, 
and other scientific works, but with a fair sprinkling of 
imaginative literature and philosophy. Ibsen and Bjorn- 
son, Vinje, Jonas Lie, Runeberg, and others were repre- 
sented, some of them by their complete works ; and here 
too were Tennyson, Keats, Byron, Frauenstedt's Schopen- 
hauer, etc. — in short, an ample stock of reading even for 
the long night of the polar winter. 

When I entered on my short occupation of the cabin, 
the greater part of these books lay in a chaos on the floor, 
along with all sorts of other things ; so I took it upon my- 
self to arrange them according to subjects in the bookcase, 
and I made free use of this library while I was on board. 
This evening, for instance, when I lay down on the sofa 
after supper, I opened the first book that came to hand, 
and found it to be Nansen's " How can the North Polar 
Region be Crossed ? " — containing his lecture before the 
Royal Geographical Society, and all the objections of the 
celebrated English sailors. It was the first time I had 
seen it. It made a peculiar and moving impression upon 
me as I read it here in Nansen's own cabin. 



240 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

When I had done, I felt I must go up and see him. 
Until that moment I had not quite grasped and realized 
the significance of his enterprise. He himself was always 
so easy and unpretending, and on board the Fram every- 
thing took its daily course with such a total absence of 
solemnity, that I had, as it were, lost the sensation of 
there being anything unusual in this voyage. To cross 
Greenland, to start for the North Pole, to go to the end 
of the world, seemed no more to these men than a trip 
down Christiania Fjord to the ordinary mortal. 

I could hear Juell's quick tongue, in the saloon, supply- 
ing a running commentary to one of the doctor's stories ; 
on the deck some one was rumbling a beer-barrel along ; 
the piston kept up its regular throb, and the propeller its 
vibration, while the Fram clove its way foot by foot 
through the sea, slowly but surely — as though driven by 
some natural law ever onward and onward toward the 
unknown goal. 

Nansen had lent me a camel's-fur jacket while I was on 
board; it was so cosey and warm that it seemed to put my 
skin into a positive glow when I had it on. Thank 
Heaven, I thought, he need certainly neither starve nor 
freeze so long as the Fram holds together. 

But if the Fram should be crushed, as one of the Eng- 
lish admirals prophesied ? 

" Then we '11 take to our longboat," Nansen had 
answered. 

" The boats are too big and heavy," another admiral 
had objected. 

" We have five or six smaller boats with us," was Nan- 
sen's reply, " and if the worst comes to the worst, we '11 
get along on an ice floe ; I 've done it before." 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAM '' 241 

Yes, I felt I must see him and express my affection 
for him in the Uttle time we could still be together. Up 
the companion, past the steaming galley, out into the free 
air of heaven ! 

There the Fram lay, heaving gently in the full glory of 
the summer night. We had at last drawn near the peaks 
of Hammero, so that we could see their green-clad base. 
Before us stretched all the mountains of the mainland, 
those nearest bathed in a splendid purple glow, while far- 
ther ahead they passed through all gradations of subdued 
color from tender violet to deep gray, right down to the 
edge of the crisp blue-black sea. 

It was strangely still. Not a soul was to be seen on 
the deck, forward, and when I looked aft, to the south- 
ward, I saw nothing but sky and sea. The solemn silence 
of the summer night took such hold on my mind that 
I remained leaning on the bulwarks for a long time, 
watching the plash of the waves against the ship's side, 
before I went up to him. 

There suddenly flashed upon me the recollection of a lit- 
tle ragged urchin whom I had seen a few days before on the 
beach near Trondhjem while I was waiting for the Fram. 
He was going barefoot in the sand, dirty and unkempt, 
but beaming with health and contentment, and singing at 
the top of his voice, " Jeg gaar i fare, hvor jeg gaar ! " ^ 

Then the thought of my own confirmation came upon 
me, when I sat in the church and shouted with all the 
rest, " Jeg gaar i fare, hvor jeg gaar ! " and heard the 
mighty organ-harmonies throbbing under the vaulted roof 
as though they indeed represented the wrath of the Lord. 

^ " I go in danger wherever I go " — the first Jin.e^o.f.a'hynmH 
16 



242 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Some one came along the deck whistling a merry tune ; 
it was the light-hearted Petterson, stripped to the waist in 
the chill evening wind, carrying a basin and a towel and 
preparing to wash the grime of the engine-room off his 
face and body. He had been in the Polar Sea before, on 
board the Hertha, so that he was at home in these waters. 
What a splendidly modelled back ! How fine the play of 
the muscles in his arms ! Yes, indeed, such frames as 
this seemed built for a tussle with the darkness and the 
fog and the cold and the ice. His whole personality was 
set to a very different air from that which was running in 
my head. Every line of it seemed to sing : — 

" Vasr glad naar faren veier 
hver evne, som du eier ! " ^ 

and from all his comrades around, from the man who 
stood at the helm, from those who were stoking the 
furnace, from all who now lay sleeping in their bunks, 
it seemed as though the third line came chiming in tri- 
umphantly : — 

" Og desto storre seier ! " ^ 

I could delay no longer, I must go up to Nansen. I 
clambered over boxes and boards, wormed my way be- 
tween barrels and stacks of dried fish, and finally, in 
spite of all obstacles, managed to haul myself up on the 
bridge. 

There he still sat in his thin silk waterproof, as he had 
sat hour after hour, defying the wind. When he saw me 
he rose and nodded, and said, as though apologizing for 
having been so absorbed in his painting : — 

" I 've just finished ! " And then, without a pause, 

^ " Rejoice when danger puts to the test every faculty you possess." 
-2" And. so ni.uch greater the victory." 



ON BOARD THE '' FRAW 243 

" Have you ever seen such a lovely evening ? We 're 
lucky in our weather, and no mistake." 

" It 's a beautiful country, this of ours," I said. " You 
must make haste and come home, and have a better look 
at it ! — And now let me see your works of art." 

" I have a whole bundle here," he answered. " You 
shall have the lot of them to take to Eva." 

Ah, yes — that was why he had been so busy. 

" I 've been down below, reading," I went on, " and I got 
hold of that English pamphlet of yours with the plan of 
your expedition. You did n't get much encouragement 
out of them, in London." 

" Oh, they did n't treat me at all badly — and there 
was n't really anything to discourage one in what they 
said. It was just the same when I was starting for Green- 
land, you know ; and that, to my mind, was really a more 
ticklish business than this. Here, thank goodness, we 've 
got everything we can possibly want, and I hope we shall 
neither starve nor freeze." He looked in my face with a 
frank smile and said slowly and emphatically : " Boasting 
apart, no ship has ever been equipped for an Arctic voy- 
age as this one is." 

Then he bundled up his painting things, and we went 
below. 

Two days later, on the evening of July 12, we parted 
at Tromso. It had rained and snowed alternately all day 
long, and from the top of Tromsdal Peak, right down to 
the gardens along the fjord, an inch-thick sheet of new- 
fallen snow lay over the green leaves and the fresh grass. 
An icy north wind was blowing, so that the fjord seemed 
to reek beneath it, and you could see the squalls sweeping 
over the water. 



244 



A^ANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



Nansen and I had been afoot all day making purchases. 
Moreover, we had been studying geology in Tromso Mu- 
seum, had had a glass of wine at Mack's, and had, for the 
rest, put in our time usefully and agreeably, 

I had been aboard the Fram in the afternoon to say 




COLIN ARCHER, THE BUILDER OF THE " FRAM " 



good-by, and had poked my nose into every hole and 
corner to fix my impressions firmly in my memory. On 
board I found Mogstad, who had now joined the ship, and 
was to replace Gjertsen and Christiansen. He impressed 
me as a fine, active, fearless fellow, and was doubtless a 
valuable addition to the crew. 



ON BOARD THE " FRAM" 245 

While I was busy packing my portmanteau, Nansen 
came down with the water-colors and pastels, the products 
of the northward voyage, which I had promised to take 
to his wife. He had placed them within the leaves of 
Nordenskjold's great facsimile atlas, and remarked as he 
gave me the parcel : " You 'd better take Nordenskjold's 
book with you ; it 's so costly and valuable, it would be a 
great pity to lose it if the luck should go against us, and 
we should have to leave the Fram behind." 

He said this with as much nonchalance as if he had 
been speaking of leaving behind an old overcoat, or a 
worn-out pair of boots. 

" You must see and bring the Fram home with you," I 
said. 

" Oh, you may be sure we won't leave the vessel until 
we can't do anything else ; but of course the ice might be 
so bad that we could n't get her through, and then it would 
be annoying to have to lose more than necessary." 

That evening Nansen and Sverdrup accompanied me 
on board the Vesteraalen, and had a glass of hot toddy by 
way of stirrup cup. 

A last hearty embrace, and good-by. " My love to your 
wife ! And be sure and give my love to Eva and Liv and 
all at home ! " 

" Promise me you '11 take care of yourself, and not be 
too reckless — and a safe return to both you and the 
Fram ! And God bless you, my dear friend ! " 

The steamer's bell rings for the last time. At midnight 
precisely the Vesteraalen starts for the south. I see Nan- 
sen and Sverdrup standing erect, side by side, in the stern 
boat of the Fram. For a moment more I can distinguish 
Nansen 's light waterproof ; then the two figures seem to 



246 



NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



melt into one behind the veil of snow, thick as in mid- 
winter, which is sweeping over the sound. One last 
glimpse of the Fram through the mist, and all is over. 
When shall I see him again t 







THE "fram" leaving BERGEN, NORWAY, FOR THE ARCTIC REGIONS 



NANSEN'S STORY 

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 



CHAPTER XIII 

- INTRODUCTION 

As soon as ever I began to think about Arctic enterprise 
it struck me that the ways in which attempts had hitherto 
been made to penetrate into the mysteries of the polar 
regions were hardly the best. It was clear that the con- 
stantly moving sea-ice which comes drifting from the north 
has been the great hindrance which has stopped the ships 
and often crushed them, as well as has made progress by 
means of dogs and sledges such a difficult task. It oc- 
curred to me, however, that there must be other ways by 
which the interior of these unknown resrions mio;ht be 
reached, and it is many years since I first conceived the 
plan of the voyage we have now accomplished. 

It was especially the finding of some articles from the 
unfortunate Jeannette expedition which led me in 1884 to 
think of this plan. These articles were found, as is well 
known, on the southwest coast of Greenland, and could 
not, in my opinion, have come there from the sea north- 
east of the New Siberian Islands, where the Jeannette 
went down, in any other way than right across the Polar 
Sea north of Franz Josef Land ; and it struck me that if 
objects from a ship could drift this way, a ship too might 
go the same route, provided she was strong enough to 
withstand the pressure of the ice. 

I then began to study these seas carefully, and turned 
my attention especially to the ice and its drift ; but the 



250 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

more I studied the subject, the more proofs I obtained 
of a constant communication between the sea north of 
Siberia and that on the east coast of Greenland, and I 
was fully convinced that there was a constant drift or 
drift current which carried the drift ice in a fixed course 
right across the sea around the North Pole from the Si- 
berian and Bering Strait side, out into the sea between 
Spitzbergen and Greenland. And so certain was my con- 
viction of the correctness of this theory, that I was equally 
certain that an expedition which, with a specially adapted 
vessel, pushed into the ice and allowed itself to be frozen 
in at the right spot on the Siberian side, must necessarily 
drift the same way, and thus be enabled to lift, to some 
extent, the veil which is drawn across these regions. In 
my lecture delivered before the Royal Geographical So- 
ciety in November, 1892, and published in the " Geograph- 
ical Journal" for 1896, I unfolded my plan and the views 
upon which it was based. 

The proofs upon which I chiefly based my theory of a 
drift across the Polar Sea were, as before mentioned : — 

(i) The continual conveyance of Siberian drift wood to 
the Greenland coast. 

(2) The finding on the coast of Greenland of a throw- 
ing-stick (an Eskimo implement), of which it might with 
certainty be afifirmed that it came from Alaska by the 
Bering Strait ; and 

(3) The very nature of the ice that comes drifting south 
along the coast of East Greenland, and which is consider- 
ably larger and more massive than any drift ice we know, 
and may therefore safely be said to have drifted a long 
time in the sea before it could be packed together and 
piled up to form such enormous masses. 



INTRODUCTION 251 

One proof to which at that time I attached consid- 
erable value, and which, after investigating the circum- 
stances more closely, I consider to be of still greater im- 
portance, was that all over the ice which comes drifting 
southward along the east coast of Greenland, down 
through the strait between Iceland and Greenland, I found 
brown dust and mud. This, I concluded, could not come 
from any other place than Siberia. During my Green- 
land expedition in 1888, however, I collected some sam- 
ples of this dust, which I got the geologist Fornebohm to 
examine. Without knowing my views — simply from 
microscopical examination of this dust — he gave it as his 
opinion that it had probably come from an extensive 
alluvial country, and therefore considered Siberia to be its 
probable source. Besides mineral dust, however, he found 
in these samples microscopical plants, which are known 
by the name of diatoms, and he therefore sent the sam- 
ples to Professor Cleve, the great authority on the sub- 
ject. Cleve now found a striking conformity between the 
diatoms in my samples and those in a sample which had 
been casually gathered during the Swedish Vega expe- 
dition on a floe off Cape Wankarema, in the neighbor- 
hood of Bering Strait. These diatom samples from two 
places lying at such a distance from one another are 
totally different from all other samples hitherto examined 
from different parts of the world. Mutually, however, 
they are so exactly alike that Cleve did not hesitate in 
expressing it as his opinion that there must be an open 
communication between the sea north of Bering Strait 
and that east of Greenland. By investigating this more 
closely during the expedition, I found a whole world of 
diatoms and other microscopical organisms, both vege- 



252 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

table and animal, living in the fresh-water pools on the 
polar drift ice, and constantly travelling from Siberia to 
the east coast of Greenland, — a world which has hitherto 
only been known from the above-mentioned samples, but 
which, perhaps, no one dreamed was living on the ice in 
the far north — that ice which was thought to be utterly 
forsaken by all living beings. 

After having brought forward in my lecture the various 
proofs of the correctness of my theories, I summed up in 
the following words : — 

From all these facts we seem fully entitled to draw the 
conclusion that a current is constantly running across 
the polar region to the north of Franz Josef Land from 
the sea north of Siberia and Bering Strait, and into the 
sea between Spitzbergen and Greenland ; and as we have 
seen, the floe ice is constantly travelling with this current 
in a fixed route between these seas. Since such is the 
case, the most natural way of crossing the unknown region 
must be to take a ticket with this ice, and enter the cur- 
rent on the side where it runs northward — that is, some- 
where near the New Siberian Islands — and let it carry 
one straight across those latitudes which it has prevented 
so many from reaching. 

As was emphasized in this lecture, it was not, of course, 
the object of the expedition to reach the North Pole, but 
to go right across the unknown polar region. As I then 
said (" Geographical Journal," p. 20), it is not possible to 
guarantee exactly over what point the current will take 
one. " It may be possible," I say, " that the current will 
not carry us exactly across the Pole, but the principal 
thing is to explore the unknown polar regions, not to 
reach exactly the mathematical point in which the axis 
of our globe has its northern termination." 






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-4! CAh 



254 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

To attain this, it was clear to me that there were only 
two ways of proceeding ; it was either — 

(i) To build a strong ship, so constructed that it can 
withstand the pressure of the ice, and, living in this ship, 
to float across with the ice ; or 

(2) To take only boats along, and camp on an ice floe, 
and live there while floating across. 

My plan was especially based on the former of these 
two ways, but also in such a manner that we were pre- 
pared to take the second way in case our ship should be 
overcome by the superior force of the ice. 

In order, however, that this should not happen, I gave 
all my care to the building of a ship especially fitted for 
this object, and I was fortunate enough to find in the 
well-known Norwegian naval architect, Mr. Colin Archer, 
a man who devoted himself with all the skill and capabil- 
ity he possessed to the task I set him. Seldom, if ever, 
has a ship been built with more care or greater conscien- 
tiousness than that with which Colin Archer built the 
Fram ; but in return he has the satisfaction of having 
produced the first ship that has ever passed the Polar 
Circle. The Fram fulfilled perfectly, down to the small- 
est details, the requirements which I put upon her. It 
was not only her great strength and the picked material 
of which she was built which enabled her to go through 
the exceptionally severe ordeals to which she was sub- 
jected, but it was also the unusually good shape, and the 
numerous ingenious means by which all dangerous points 
were protected, and which were due in a great measure to 
Colin Archer's insight. It is therefore to a great extent 
owing to him, through the good ship, that the whole expe- 
dition, which it was prophesied in advance would be the 



INTRODUCTION 255 

hardest and most dangerous that man had ever yet ven- 
tured upon, was a real pleasure or holiday trip, during 
which we led so comfortable a life that few could be 
more comfortable, even in Old England. 

When I delivered my lecture to the Royal Geographi- 
cal Society, many of the great Arctic authorities who 
were present as my true friends, and anxious about the 
safety of my companions and myself, strongly dissuaded 
me from the attempt. A few of them went so far as to 
say that the whole plan was founded on theories which 
were far from agreeing with the actual circumstances ; 
and the general opinion, both in England and elsewhere, 
was that either the expedition would never be heard of 
again, after having once confided itself to the capricious 
polar ice, or it would return without results ; and all 
authorities seemed to agree that it was an utter impossi- 
bility for a ship to withstand the ice-pack in the unknown 
North. The well-known American Arctic traveller, Gen- 
eral A. W. Greely, thought it " almost incredible that 
the plan advanced by Dr. Nansen should receive encour- 
agement or support," and he concludes his article in the 
" Forum " with the following words : " Arctic exploration is 
sufficiently credited with rashness and danger in its legit- 
imate and sanctioned methods, without bearing the bur- 
den of Dr. Nansen's illogical scheme of self-destruction." 

This, of course, could not shake my faith in the correct- 
ness of my plan. The Norwegian Storthing had already, 
as soon as I put forward a petition, voted the sum I 
required for its realization, while there was no difficulty 
in obtaining from private individuals in Norway what 
more was required for the expedition. Having, on 
account of the expensive construction of the ship, etc., 



256 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



run short of funds just before starting, I had to ask the 
Norwegian Storthing for an extra grant, which was again 
given with willing hand. 



STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE 
" FRAM " EXPEDITION, 1893-1896 



INCOME 

Contribution of the State 
(government) .... 

H. M. the king and origi- 
nal private contributors . 105,000.00 

Collecteid by geographical 
society and committee . 

Interest 

Deficit covered by A. Hei- 
berg, A. Dick, and F. 
Nansen 19,862.50 

London Geographical So- 
ciety (^300), H. Simon. 
Manchester (^100), a 
Norwegian at Riga (1000 
rubles), and others . . 0,278.62 



Croitms 



280,000.00 



20.468.46 
9,729.78 



Total cr 444,339.36 

(Total about ;?; 120,000.00.) 



EXPENSES 

Cro', 

Hire-account (wages) . . 46,440 
Life insurance premiums 
(for the married mem- 
bers of exp.) .... 5,361 

Instruments ace 12,978 

Ship's ace 271,927 

Provision ace. . . . = .39,172 

Expense ace 10,612 

Outfitting ace 57,846 



:uns 
.00 



Total cr 444,339.36 

(Total about $120,000.00.) 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE VOYAGE OF THE " FRAM " 

On June 24, 1893, everything was at last ready, and 
the Fram weighed anchor, and stood off down the 
Christiania Fjord. On July 21 we stood out to sea from 
Vardo, the last Norwegian port, and shaped a course for 
Nova Zembla. On the way we were stopped by ice for 
some days, and did not reach Chabarowa, in the Yugor 
Straits, until July 29. Here we took on board thirty-four 
Siberian sledge dogs, which Trontheim, a man sent by 
Baron Toll, had brought for us from the Ostiaks, in West 
Siberia. Here, too, the boiler had to be cleaned, and 
various other preparations made before we could proceed. 
We were also waiting for a sloop, the Urania, which was 
to bring us a cargo of coal ; but her coming was delayed ; 
and as we already had a large quantity of coal and time 
was short, I decided not to wait 

On one occasion I am afraid that I lowered my repu- 
tation for all time to come among the Russians and 
Samojedes in these parts. Some of them had been on 
board and had seen me stand in the launch (I was en- 
gaged in putting the machinery in order), with arms bare 
and face full of dirt and grease, wearing a woollen shirt 
and working hard. After they had gone to shore, they 
told Trontheim that he had deceived them in telling 
them that I was a fine gentleman. They declared that 
I worked like a common laborer on board, and looked 
17 



258 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

worse than a pig. Unfortunately, Trontheim could not 
say anything in my defence ; one cannot deny facts. 

On the evening of August 3 we were ready to start. 
My secretary, Christoffersen, who had accompanied us 
so far, now took leave of us. Just as we were about to 
weigh anchor, however, a fog came on, and we could 
hardly see the length of the bowsprit. The fog did not 
seem inclined to lift, and I at last decided to start in spite 
of it, I myself, with one man, going in front in our little 
petroleum launch to sound the shallow channels where 
we might expect to run aground at any moment. We 
got safely out, and next morning stood out of the Yugor 
Straits, and entered the dreaded Kara Sea. Here it was 
not long before we met with ice, and it almost looked as 
if every way was blocked ; but we found an open channel 
running: eastward alonor the shore, and followed it as far 
as the Kara River. Thence we crossed over to Yalmal, 
where, on August 6, we were completely stopped by ice. 
We went ashore, and while waiting employed the time in 
botanical and geological expeditions. Upon fixing the 
locality, we found, too, that on the map the coast was 
placed half a degree too far west. While we lay here, two 
Samojedes came on board ; they were hospitably received, 
and, having been enriched with biscuits and other Euro- 
pean luxuries, left the ship well pleased. They were the 
last human beinQ^s we saw. 

On August 12 the ice at length opened toward the 
north sufficiently to allow of our venturing on an attempt 
to force our way farther. At the northern point of Yal- 
mal, indeed, we were fortunate enough to reach open 
water on August 1 3 ; but a stiff northeasterly gale com- 
pelled us to tack eastward against a heavy sea. This 
went on for several weeks. 



THE VOYAGE OF THE ''FEAM" 259 

While beating up one day against a stiff breeze in the 
Kara Sea, to the northwest of the mouth of the Yenisei 
River, we suddenly discovered land. We could not make 
out what this was, as our observations gave our position 
as right out at sea. It soon, however, became clear to us 
that this was a hitherto unknown island, and we named 
it Sverdrup's Island. In the evening we got under the 
shore at Port Dickson. It had originally been our inten- 
tion to put in here to leave letters for home, which were 
to be called for by the English Yenisei Expedition under 
Captain Wiggins ; but time was precious, and I therefore 
decided to go on without stopping. 

During our sail in a northeasterly direction along the 
coast of Siberia we were continually discovering new is- 
lands, which I shall not dwell upon here. This coast 
upon the whole is very different from that represented on 
maps. It gave me the impression of being a glaciated 
coast, with deep fjords and a marked belt of rocks and 
islands outside it, something like the west coast of Nor- 
way or Scotland, although of course the mountains were 
not so high nor the fjords so marked. 

On August 20 we landed on one of Kjellman's Islands, 
where we shot a couple of bears and some reindeer. 
Here, as in several places on the Siberian coast, we found 
unmistakable traces of a glacial period, which must have 
covered Northern Siberia with an inland ice of considera- 
ble extent. I found erratic blocks, moraines, and moraine 
deposit almost wherever I landed, from Yalmal to the east 
of Cape Chelyuskin ; and on this particular island I also 
found, in a place which was left bare at low water, unmis- 
takable striations. When we were about to go on from 
this place, we were stopped by storm and a rapid adverse 



26o NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

current, which, in these dangerous waters, full of rocks 
and shallows, rendered our advance impossible. Not un- 
til August 24 did we get clear of them, when we still had 
to beat up toward the east, against a strong head wind. 
On August 27 we reached Cape Palander, and on the 
same night were stopped by unbroken land-ice between 
Nordenskjold's Taimyr Island and the Almquist Islands. 
We endeavored to break our way through to the north of 
the latter, but discovered a new chain of islands stretch- 
ing far north. After having at length reached the north- 
ern end of these, we were stopped there by densely packed 
ice, and were obliged to turn back. There was no pas- 
sage to be discovered ; unbroken land-ice lay everywhere 
between the islands. We were obliged to wait, prepared 
to winter in the same spot where Nordenskjold, as early 
as the middle of August, 1878, had found water entirely 
free from ice. The storm, however, broke up the ice, and 
on September 6 we were able to continue our way ; but to 
our surprise we came upon land before we were half way 
across the Taimyr Gulf, as it is laid down on the map. 
This bay is considerably narrower than one would gather 
from ordinary maps, and has a different appearance. We 
went on in a northerly direction toward Cape Chelyus- 
kin, but were stopped on September 7 by close-packed 
ice to landward. 

On the following day I went on an expedition into the 
Chelyuskin Peninsula. I found it to consist for the most 
part of extensive clay plains, strewn with huge erratic 
blocks of granite, porphyry, and various kinds of rock. I 
also found here the opening of a mighty estuary, which 
extended far up into the land. 

On September 9 we were once more able to push our 



THE VOYAGE OF THE '' FRAM'' 261 

way northward, discovering still more new islands in the 
sea to the west of Cape Chelyuskin, which we passed on 
September 10. East of this cape the thickly packed ice 
obliged us once more to make a short halt. Masses of 
ice lay to the east and south along the east coast of the 
Taimyr Peninsula, so close to the shore that we were 
obliged to continue along it southward as far as to about 
the mouth of the Anabara River. On September 15 we 
were off the Olenek River, where twenty-six first-rate 
sledge dogs were awaiting us. These, too, had been pro- 
cured by Baron Toll, because the East Siberian dogs are 
very much better than the West Siberian. It was most 
important for me to have these dogs, as I felt that they 
might become very useful to us ; but the shallow water 
and the lateness of the season kept me from going in. 
Were we to run aground here, it might easily cost us 
several days' labor to get afloat again, and in the mean 
time winter might set in, and we should be imprisoned 
for a whole year, even if nothing worse happened. I 
considered this was too great a risk to run, and therefore 
continued our course toward the New Siberian Islands. 

On the night of September 18 we passed the most 
westerly of these islands — Bielkov Island. Depots had 
been left on Kotelny for the expedition by Baron Toll, in 
case of our being obliged to leave the ship and turn our 
steps homeward across Siberia. I would have been glad 
to inspect these depots ; but again time compelled us to 
continue our way without delay through the open water 
to the north. 

It was not until September 20, in 'jf 44' N. lat, that 
we were stopped by ice. I should have liked to go 
eastward along the edge of the ice for the purpose of 



262 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

examining, if possible, the mysterious Sannikov Land; 
and thence go in the direction of Bennett Island; but 
there was a great deal of ice in this direction, and as pro- 
gress would consequently be doubtful, I continued in a 
northwesterly direction along the edge of the ice. On 
September 2 1 we reached the head of a bay in the ice, 
whence the ice-edge extended in a southwesterly direc- 
tion. Here we could discover no further lead toward 
the north, and we therefore, on September 22, made fast 
to an iceberg in 78° 50' N. lat. and 133° 37' E. long., and 
allowed ourselves to be surrounded by the ice, which was 
soon packed closely around the ship. 

During the first few days we drifted in a northerly 
direction, so that by September 29 we had passed the 
seventy-ninth parallel of latitude. Hope was bright, but 
before long it was darkened by a north wind, which con- 
tinued throughout the autumn, and carried us in a south- 
easterly direction. That was a dreary time ; it seemed 
as if everything were going against us. On November 
8 we had come right down as far as 77° 43' N. lat, and 
1 38° 8' E. long. ; but then at last we got southerly and 
southeasterly winds, and began in earnest to drift in a 
northerly and northwesterly direction, just as had been 
presupposed, in the plan of the expedition. 

As early as October the ice-pressures began to be tre- 
mendous, and continued throughout the autumn and 
winter. We soon discovered that it was principally due 
to the tidal current, and that the ice periodically parted 
and packed together again twice in the twenty-four hours. 
The pressure, was therefore greatest at the spring tides, 
when it would often lift the vessel several feet, only to let 
it drop back again into its former position as soon as the 



THE VOYAGE OF THE '' FHAM" 



263 




THE " FRAM " IN THE ICE-PACK 



ice again opened. In the case of any other vessel this 
pressure would have been utterly fatal ; but the Fram 
surpassed our boldest expectations, and was superior to 
all pressure. The ice piled itself up, and crashed against 
her sides with a noise like the crack of doom, but in vain. 
There was not a sound of the yielding of timbers or wood. 



264 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

The noise of the ice crushing against her sides often rose 
to such a pitch that we could not hear each other speak 
as we sat in the saloon. It was particularly awkward for 
the card-players, who thus could not hear each other's 
declarations. 

At first, as long as the crew were unaccustomed to this, 
they found the scene so interesting that they remained on 
deck to watch it ; but they soon tired of it, and no longer 
went up, however bad the pressure was. We felt as safe 
as in a fortress, and the Fram was a comfortable warm 
nest, where nothing was felt of the severity of the polar 
winter. 

The temperature fell rapidly, and continued evenly low 
throughout the winter. During many weeks the mer- 
cury was frozen. The lowest temperature was 63° below 
zero. In spite of this, and although with this temperature 
there was often a wind, we felt quite comfortable, during 
our open-air excursions, in our good woollen clothing, 
with a covering of wind-proof material outside. The 
Fram was so well protected against the cold that even in 
these low temperatures we had no fire in the saloon until 
the New Year. 

All the men were in excellent health during the whole 
of the expedition, and we are all agreed that the Polar 
Sea is a healthy place, especially with such a capital sani- 
tarium as the Fram. 

The electric light was produced by means of a wind- 
mill, and quite fulfilled our expectations. There was not, 
however, sufficient wind to allow of our having electric 
light all the time, and we then had to content ourselves 
with ordinary oil lamps. 

On the whole, the time passed as pleasantly as possible 



266 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

on board. Every man was on the best of terms with his 
neighbor, and did his duty with a will. Care was of 
course taken to provide occupation ; but even without this, 
time did not hang heavy on our hands. For those who 
were not continually occupied in scientific observations 
and investigations there was abundant entertainment in a 
capital library, games, music, various kinds of work, etc. ; 
and I think hardly any of us greatly felt the monotony 
complained of in all Arctic expeditions. For us who had 
charge of the scientific observations there was more work 
than we could accomplish. The Fram, in fact consti- 
tuted an observatory of the best kind for scientific in- 
vestigations of all kinds ; and it is therefore scarcely to 
be wondered at that we should bring home such abun- 
dant and valuable material as few expeditions before us 
secured. 

Lieutenant Sigurd Scott-Hansen was responsible for 
the meteorological, magnetic, and astronomical observa- 
tions, which, I venture to say, are exceptionally complete. 
Dr. Blessing undertook the greater part of the botanical 
investigations and observations of the Aurora Borealis, 
and also, of course, his physiological and medical observa- 
tions, which are by no means unimportant. In addition 
to these, zoological researches were made on board, sound- 
ings, determination of the temperature and the salinity of 
the sea water, observations of the atmospherical electricity, 
and much besides. 

In the sea near the Siberian coast and northward to 
79° N. lat, I found only very inconsiderable depths — less 
than ninety fathoms. A little south of this latitude, how- 
ever, the depth increased with astonishing rapidity, and I 
found the sea north of that to be between i ,600 and i ,900 




ACTUAL ROUTE SHOWN THUS; 



Map showing the Projected and Actual Routes of the " Fram," and the Course of the Sledge Expedition. 



268 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

fathoms deep. It therefore seems to me as if the entire 
polar basin should be considered as a continuation of the 
deep channel which runs northward from the North 
Atlantic Ocean between Spitzbergen and Greenland. 
This discovery of a deep polar basin overthrows, however, 
all earlier theories based upon a shallow Polar Sea. In 
the numerous bottom samples brought to the surface in 
our soundings I always found a remarkable absence of 
organic life, a fact which will probably lead to some alter- 
ation of our views with regard to bottom deposits. The 
temperature and salinity of the sea also prove to be very 
different from the suppositions of most scientific authori- 
ties. I found, not far below the cold ice-water covering 
the surface of the Polar Sea, a deep layer of warmer and 
Salter water, originating probably in the Gulf Stream, its 
temperature being as much as one degree above freezing 
point. Below this, indeed, the water was somewhat 
colder, but yet considerably warmer than is generally 
supposed. 

The speed at which we drifted was continually chang- 
ing, and our course, in consequence, was not a straight 
line. Sometimes we drifted forward, but at others we 
went back again; and were our course to be marked on a 
map as it actually was, it would be such a confusion of 
loops and knots that no one would be able to make any- 
thing of it. From the accompanying outline map, how- 
ever, on which the principal features of our course are 
given, a good impression of its direction may be obtained. 
As we expected, we drifted most in a northwesterly direc- 
tion in the winter and spring, while northerly winds 
stopped us in the summer. 

By June i8 we had in this way reached 8i° 52' N. lat, 



THE VOYAGE OF THE '^ FEAM" 269 

but prevailing northwest winds again drove us south- 
ward, and the whole of that summer we drifted about 
in lower latitudes. Not until October 21 did we reach 
82° N. lat. in 114° 9' E. long. On the evening of Christ- 
mas Day, 1894, 83° was reached in about 105° E. long., 
and a few days later 83° 24' N. lat. — the most northerly 
latitude until then reached by man. 

On January 4 and 5, 1895, ^he Fram was subjected to 
the greatest pressure we experienced. Before we set out 
on our expedition the great Arctic authority, Sir Leopold 
McClintock, gave it as his opinion that the Fram would 
be able to withstand the ice-pressure in the summer, but 
that if she were exposed to it in the winter he believed 
the probability of her being able to stand the pressure or 
raise herself was very slight. Other Arctic authorities 
expressed themselves yet more strongly, saying that it 
was an impossibility for any ship to stand the ice-pressure 
in the winter. Now, however, the Fram was not only to 
be exposed to winter pressure, but she was then fast 
frozen in ice of over thirty feet in thickness, a fact of 
which I had previously ascertained the truth by boring. 
Across this ice immense masses of ice came gliding with 
irresistible force against our port side. The pressure was 
tremendous. The ice piled itself up above the gunwales, 
and high up the rigging, threatening, if not to crush her, 
at least to bury her. Scarcely a man on board believed 
she could live. The necessary provisions, canvas kaiaks, 
cooking utensils, fuel, tents, hand-sledges, and ski were all 
brought in safety on to the ice. All hands were ready to 
leave the ship, and no one was allowed to sleep unless 
fully clothed. 

But the Fram proved to be stronger than our faith in 



2 70 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

her. When the pressure was at its height, and for the 
first time her timbers and beams began to creak, she 
broke loose, and was slowly lifted up out of the icy berth 
in which she had been fast frozen. 

It was a triumph. By putting together the very worst 
possibilities, I could hardly imagine a more dangerous 
position for a vessel, and after that experience I consider 
the Fram to be capable of anything. Notwithstanding 
the most careful examination, we have not been able to 
discover a single crack, a single splinter displaced in her. 

After this it became comparatively quiet as regards the 
pressures, and we drifted on rapidly in a northerly and 
northeasterly direction. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 

As I now thought I could assume with certainty that 
the Frani in a short time would reach her highest lati- 
tude north of Franz Josef Land, and as early as the 
following summer would, as our plan presupposed, be 
near the sea north of Spitzbergen, I believed the oppor- 
tunity had come to carry out a plan I had for some time 
entertained ; namely, to examine the sea north of the 
Frams course. This could only be done by a sledge ex- 
pedition, which could not reckon upon getting back again 
to the Fram, as the chance of refinding a vessel drifting 
in the ice was small. As a journey of this kind might 
appear to be fraught with some risk, should unforeseen 
hindrances be met with, I felt that I could not take the 
responsibility of sending any one else, and therefore de- 
cided to go myself, although there was no lack on board 
of those who were more than desirous of going. I chose 
as my companion Lieutenant Johansen, who gladly ac- 
cepted the offer of going. The command of the remain- 
der of the expedition on board the Fram I left in Sver- 
drup's hands. 

I of course felt some hesitation in thus leaving my 
companions and placing the responsibility for their well- 
being and safety in the hands of another ; but with the 
perfect confidence that I had in Sverdrup's capability as 
a leader and power of overcoming difficulties, I had no 



272 NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

fear of his not bringing all hands safely home, even 
should the worst happen and they have to abandon the 
Fram ; an event, however, which I deemed highly im- 
probable. 

All the winter I had been busy making preparations for 
this expedition. I had had new strong sledges made on 
board specially calculated for being drawn by dogs over 
the uneven ice. Next I had made two kaiaks, twelve feet 
in length, and so roomy that they could each carry a man 
with provisions for four months, as well as some dogs on 
the deck. The framework of these was made of bamboo 
and covered with canvas. When completed they weighed 
about forty pounds each. The provisions, which consisted 
exclusively of the best kinds of dried and greatly con- 
densed articles of food, — chiefly dried meat, dried fish, 
-cool oatmeal, biscuits, butter, etc., etc., — were 
stowed away in canvas bags of convenient size. We had 
constantly driven the dogs to keep them in training for 
the journey, and all kinds of experiments had been tried 
with the tent, sleeping-bag, etc. 

It was my intention to leave the Fram as soon as the 
dawning polar day would allow of our traversing the 
rough drift ice. So on February 26, with six sledges, 
twenty-eight dogs, two kaiaks, and provisions for men 
and dogs for several months, Johansen and \ left the 
Fram. However, after four days' toiling with all these 
sledges over the rough ice, we saw that, thus heavily 
laden, we should not be able to reach our goal in good 
time. The dogs could not on this ice draw as much as 
we had expected of them ; and we therefore decided to 
return to the ship, in order to reduce the number of our 
sledges and the quantity of our provisions, and to wait a 
little longer before setting off. 




18 



274 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



On March 3, just as we were approaching the Fram, 
the sun appeared above the horizon for the first time that 
spring, after the longest polar night ever experienced by 
man. Observations taken on the same day showed that 
we had reached a latitude of 84° 4' N. 




DR. NANSEN AND LIEUTENANT JOHANSEN LEAVING THE " FRAM " 

A few days were again spent in preparations. It was 
now my plan to take with us only dog provisions for one 
month and provisions for the men for a hundred days, 
and with this light equipment try to pass quickly on 
over the ice. We thus need not set off so early, and 
it was not until March 14 that we again said farewell to 
our companions, this time in earnest. We had now only 
three sledges, on two of which lay our two kaiaks, and 
we had the same twenty-eight dogs as before. It was 
my hope that as we got farther north we should find 
smoother ice, the ice there being older, and its uneven- 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 275 

ness therefore better covered up by the drifting snow. 
This appeared at first to be the case. We found the ice 
tolerably easy to get over, and did some good days' 
marches. On March 22 we had already reached 85° 10' 
N. lat, and we calculated that we could cover greater and 
greater distances as the sledge-loads grew lighter with the 
daily consumption of food on the part of both men and 
dogs. The dogs, too, appeared to hold out fairly well. 
But by and by the floes began to be more uneven, and 
packed together, and the drift, which until then had 
seemed to be slight, was now against us. On March 25 
we had reached 85° 19' N. lat; on the 29th, 85° 30'. 
The ice was obviously drifting southward at a good rate, 
while at the same time our progress over the rough ice 
was slow. It was a never-ending labor, forcing our way 
through and getting the sledges over the high hummocks 
and piled-up ridges of ice, which were always being 
formed afresh, and which the snow-storm never had time 
to smooth over. On such ice the dogs, of course, were of 
very little assistance. When they came to obstacles such 
as these they waited patiently until we had carried the 
sledges safely over, and they could once more draw them 
on over a short stretch of level ice to a fresh obstacle. 

The ice was in constant movement and thundering 
around us on all sides. On April 3 we were in 85° 59' 
N. lat. We pushed on with all our might, always hoping 
for better ice. On April 4 we reached 86° 3'; but the 
ice grew worse, until at last on April 7 it was so bad 
that I thought it unadvisable to continue any farther to- 
ward the north. If it were like this in the direction of 
Franz Josef Land, we might have difificulty enough in 
getting there. We were then in 86° 14' N. lat., and 



276 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

about 95° E. long. In order to investigate the state of 
the ice and the possibility of advance, I went farther 
north on ski, but could discern no likely way. From the 
highest hummock I could find, I saw only packed and 
piled-up ice as far as the horizon. 

Here, as during our whole journey, we saw no sign of 
land in any direction. The ice appeared to drift before 
the wind without being stopped by mainland or islands 
for a distance of many miles ; and it seems to me scarcely 
probable that land will be found on this side of the North 
Pole, even if we must suppose that on the other side any- 
thing like a continuation of the North American archi- 
pelago may be found toward the north. 

The first time we set out from the Frain we had had 
our good warm wolf-skin clothes with us ; but as spring 
was approaching, and the temperature had latterly been 
comparatively high, we did not think we should again 
have very low temperatures, and therefore, to save weight 
and make the caravan as easy of transport as possible, we 
reduced the outfit to a minimum, and left our warm fur 
clothing on board when we left the Frain for the second 
time, a proceeding that we were subsequently to repent 
bitterly. 

For about three weeks the temperature remained at 
about 40° below zero, rising on April i to 7.6° below 
zero, but soon sinking again to 36.4° beloM^ zero. With 
such a temperature and a wind, we often felt it bitterly 
cold in our good but too light woollen clothing, which, 
owing to the perspiration of the body, was gradually 
transformed into an icy coat of mail. It was worse with 
our outer woollen jackets, which became covered with a 
thick layer of ice, which it took us fully an hour to thaw 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 277 

every night in our sleeping-bag, no little physical heat 
being spent on the process ; and not until we had lain 
with chattering teeth for about an hour and a half did 
we begin to feel at all comfortable. A few minutes after 
we got out of our sleeping-bag in the morning, our clothes 
were again transformed into ice ; and I scarcely think 
that either Johansen or I will ever wish for a repetition 
of those days. In March the minimum temperature was 
49° below zero, the maximum 4° below zero. 

It was on April 8 that we altered our course and be- 
gan our wanderings toward Cape Fligely, in Franz Josef 
Land. For a time we still had the same toilsome kind of 
road to go ; but after one day's march the ice became bet- 
ter, and its passage somewhat easier. • It was our habit to 
wind up our watches every evening when we got into our 
sleeping-bags. Being, however, very anxious to get on, 
our day's march was sometimes very long, and on April 
12 more than thirty-six hours had elapsed before we 
again crept into our bags ; and when we then thought of 
our watches they had run down. This was an unfortunate 
occurrence. I had taken no observations for longitude 
for three days. I of course took an observation for time 
the following day, but was obliged to make a reckoning 
for the three intermediate days' journey, which, however, 
I knew must be fairly accurate, even though I could not 
tell how much the ice had drifted in that time. In order 
to have our time once more quite exact, I now wanted to 
take some lunar distances ; but on setting about it I dis- 
covered that the table necessary for their calculation had 
been left on board by mistake. We naturally, during the 
rest of our journey, continued to take observations for 
longitude with just as much care, and thought that we 
could not be very far out. 



278 NAN SEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

When we arrived at 85° N. lat. on April 25, to our 
astonishment we came upon two fox tracks. This seemed 
to imply that we were near some land ; but nothing of 
the kind was visible, notwithstanding the clear weather. 
What now most hindered our progress were the cracks 
and channels in the ice. In that low temperature they 
were, as a rule, covered with a thin sheet of ice, which 
made it impossible to use our kaiaks in getting across. 
We v/ere therefore often compelled to go a round of 
many miles, and it would sometimes take half a day to 
get past a channel of this kind. The farther south we 
came, the more of these there were, and they greatly 
hindered our advance ; while provisions were dwindling, 
and the dogs had to be killed one after another to feed 
the remainder. Some of the dogs at first evinced great 
aversion to eating their companions ; but as their hunger 
increased, and they got nothing else to eat, they gradu- 
ally became so voracious for this food that it was diffi- 
cult to keep them from it as soon as a dog was killed. 

Their rations had to be gradually reduced to the small- 
est possible amount, so as to make the little we had go far 
enough, and keep them alive as long as possible ; but by 
degrees they grew sadly worn out. Many of them drew 
their load faithfully until they suddenly dropped down 
with fatigue, unable to stand any longer. We then had 
no other choice than to kill them on the spot, or to lay 
them on one of the sledges, and take them with us to kill 
them when we pitched our camp in the evening. 

In June the channels became more numerous and 
more difficult than ever to deal with, and the state of the 
ice was very bad. Dogs, ski, and sledge-runners broke 
through the crust on the snow, and sank deep into the 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 279 

soft and wet snow beneath. The number of dogs now, 
too, was very small, and was continually diminishing. 
Advance seemed almost hopeless, but we had no choice, 
and so toiled on as best we could, while the rations for 
both dogs and men were reduced to a minimum. 

It is well known that, according to Payer's map, there 
is a land north of Franz Josef Land, in about 83° N. lat, 
which he has called Petermann Land. It had been my 
intention to try first to gain this land, where progress 
would probably have been easy, and where we could 
have reckoned on finding sufficient game for our rifles. 
According to our reckoning, too, we ought now to have 
been in the longitude of this land ; but we came farther 
and farther south without being able to descry any land 
at all.' At the end of May we were in 82° 21' N. lat; 
on June 4, in 82° 18'. By June 15 we had drifted north- 
west into 82° 26^ and should not then have been more 
than about twenty miles north of Cape Fligely. We still, 
however, could see no land. This became more and more 
puzzling, and the state of the ice grew continually worse. 
At last, on June 22, we shot a large seal, and now deter- 
mined to wait until the snow melted, in the mean time 
living upon seal's flesh. A little later we shot three bears, 
and we now had abundance of food, so that our two 
remaining dogs could be well fed on raw meat. It was 
not until July 22 that we once more set out over tolerably 
good ice, and two days later we at length came in sight of 
unknown land. We were then in about 82° N. lat, but 
we were to have a hard struggle to reach this land. 

One day during that time we had an adventure which 
might have been much more serious. We were just 
about to cross a channel in the ice in our kaiaks. This 



28o NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

was generally accomplished by tying the two kaiaks 
together on the ice, then placing them on the water, and, 
after creeping with the dogs out on to the deck, paddling 
across. This time we had just brought my kaiak up to 
the edge of the floe, and while I was busy with it Johan- 
sen turned back to draw up his kaiak beside it. Suddenly 
I heard a noise behind me, and, turning, saw Johansen on 
his back with a bear over him, and holding the bear by 
the throat. I caught at my gun, which lay on the fore- 
deck cf my kaiak ; but at the same moment the boat slid 
into the water, and the gun with it. By exerting all my 
strength I hauled the heavily laden kaiak up again, but 
while doing so I heard Johansen quietly remark, " You 
must hurry up if you don't want to be too late." At last 
I got the gun out of its case ; and as I turned round with 
it cocked, the bear was just in front of me. In the hurry 
of the moment I had cocked the right barrel, which was 
loaded with shot ; but the charge took effect behind the 
ear, and the bear fell down dead between us. The only 
wound Johansen had received was a slight scratch on the 
back of one hand, and we went on our way well laden 
with fresh bear's flesh. 

The current was strong, and the ice was broken up all 
over into small floes. The channels between were, as a 
rule, filled with small ice-pieces and crushed ice, making 
it impossible to use our kaiaks. We therefore had to leap 
from one block of ice to another, dragging our sledges 
after us, with the constant fear of seeing them upset into 
the water. We continued this for a fortnight, and it was 
not until August 6 that we reached land in 8i° 38VN. lat, 
and 63° E. long. This first land consisted of four entirely 
glacier-covered islands, which I called Hirttenland, after 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 281 

an old Norwegian fairy tale. Along the north side of 
these islands there was open water, upon which we rowed 
westward in our kaiaks. When we reached this open 
water there was little prospect of our having much more 
use for the two dogs we still had left ; and as it was not a 
little inconvenient to take them with us on the sea, we 
shot them and left them on the drift ice. 

In these waters we made a remarkable ornithological 
discovery ; for as long as we were in the neighborhood of 
these islands we daily saw numbers of the hitherto so 
rare, so mysterious, and so little known Ross's gull {Rodo- 
stetia 7'osed). This, the most markedly polar of all bird 
forms, is easily recognizable from other species of gull by 
its beautiful rose-colored breast, its wedge-shaped tail, and 
airy flight. It is without comparison the most beautiful 
of all the animal forms of the frozen regions. Hitherto it 
has only been seen by chance on the utmost confines of 
the unknown Polar Sea, and no one knew whence it came 
or whither it went ; but here we had unexpectedly come 
upon its native haunt, and, although it was too late in the 
year to find its nests, there could be no doubt about its 
breeding in this region. 

During the next few days, a thick fog prevented us 
from discovering land south of these islands ; but on 
August 1 2 the fog lifted a little, and an extensive land, or 
rather a chain of islands, now lay before us to the west 
and south, extending from the southeast right up to the 
northwest. This was more and more puzzling. There 
was nothing to be found in Payer's map agreeing with it. 
I thought we must be very nearly in the same longitude 
as Austria Sound ; but if this was correct, we were now 
in the act of sailing: ris^ht across Wilczek Land and the 



282 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

Dove Glacier, without getting a glimpse of any land near. 
Nor could I discover any indication of Austria Sound in 
its northern part ; and Rawlinson's Sound, too, had van- 
ished. It is therefore scarcely surprising that I came to 
the conclusion that there must be some considerable error 
in our longitude. How, indeed, this could be was not 
clear to me ; but I concluded that either our watches 
must have gone completely wrong of late, or that during 
the three days before April 1 2 we had drifted a most re- 
markable distance. However this might be, I could only 
suppose that we had now arrived at the unknown west 
coast of Franz Josef Land, or to that mysterious land 
which always on maps goes by the name of Gilis Land, 
and which is generally placed between Franz Josef Land 
and Spitzbergen. Of one thing, however, I was certain ; 
namely, that by steering south and southwest we must at 
last come to Spitzbergen, our actual goal, where we should 
find Norwegian walrus-sloops, which could take us home 
at once. We therefore continued, now paddling, now 
dragging over the ice, westward through a sound which 
lay in 81° 30" N. lat. Having got through this, we found 
a large piece of open water, upon which we paddled south- 
west along the northwest shore of the land, hoping soon 
to be able to cross over the sea to Spitzbergen. In vain 
did we search for land in the west. On August 18 a 
wind from the sea suddenly drove the ice in toward the 
shore, and we were imprisoned for a week. After again 
continuing our journey for a day or two, we were once 
more imprisoned, on 26th August, in about 81° 13' N. 
lat. and 55^° E. long. The auturnn was now so, far ad- 
vanced that I considered it would be too late to begin the 
long journey to Spitzbergen, where we could scarcely 



284 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

expect to arrive in time to find any ships going home, and 
where we should accordingly have to winter without hav- 
ing time enough to lay in provisions and make prepara- 
tions for it. As the place we had reached seemed well 
fitted for wintering in, and there appeared to be sufficient 
opportunity for getting game, we thought it safest to stop 
here and prepare for the winter. 

We immediately set to work to shoot walrus, the blub- 
ber of which we intended to use for firing. For two men, 
however, the manipulation of these huge animals was 
attended with considerable toil. We had at last to give 
up dragging them up on land or on to the ice, and our 
only expedient was to lie on them in the water while re- 
moving the hide and blubber, during which process we 
succeeded in getting our only clothes thoroughly satu- 
rated with oil and dirt, thus rendering them peculiarly 
unfitted for protection against the winter cold and storms. 
There was no scarcity of bears, and we shot them for our 
winter store of food. After having laid in a temporary 
supply, we set to work on our hut, which was built of 
stone, earth, and moss. How we were to roof it seemed 
at first a difficult problem to solve. Fortunately, how- 
ever, we found a piece of timber cast up on the shore. 
This we used as the ridgepiece of the house, and stretched 
walrus hides over it, weighted at the edges on both sides 
with large stones. On the top of this we laid snow. To 
build a chimney was not easy, as we had not the stones 
necessary. Our only expedient was therefore to build it 
of ice and snow, which had to be renewed, however, two 
or three times in the course of the winter. 

For cooking, lighting, and heating, we used walrus 
blubber and bear's fat. Bear's flesh and fat was our only 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 285 

food. In the evening we fried it in a large aluminium 
frying-pan ; in the morning we boiled it. We made our 
bed and sleeping-bag of bear-skin. To keep warmer, we 
both slept in one bag, and, taken altogether, we were 
quite comfortable in our low hut, of which a great part 
lay below the level of the ground, and was therefore fairly 
well protected from the violent winter storms which con- 
tinually raged above it. By the help of our lamps we 
succeeded in keeping the temperature inside at about 
freezing-point, while on the walls it was, of course, consid- 
erably lower. These were covered with a thick coating of 
frost and ice, which in the lamplight imparted a beautiful 
marmoreal appearance to the walls of the hut, so that in 
our happier moments we could dream that we dwelt in 
marble halls. The hut was about ten feet long, six feet 
broad, and high enough in some places to allow of our 
standing almost erect. Our couch was formed of rough 
stones ; we never quite succeeded in getting it even tol- 
erably level, and our most important business throughout 
the winter was, therefore, to bend the body into the most 
varied positions in order to discover the one in which the 
pressure of the stones was least felt. 

We had no work which could help to make the time 
pass : we did little else than sleep, eat, and then sleep 
again. If any one still holds the old belief that scui-vy 
arises from want of exercise, this is a striking proof that 
such is not the case. Strange to say, our appetites con- 
tinued unimpaired the whole time, and we always con- 
sumed our bear's flesh and our fat with the same voracity. 
When the weather permitted, we would take an hour's 
walk every day in the dark outside the hut ; but often it 
was so stormy that it was not expedient to put one's nose 



286 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

beyond the passage which led to our palace. Several days 
would often pass in which we lay quite still, until at last a 
scarcity of ice to melt for drinking-water, or of food, com- 
pelled us to go out to fetch ice or to drag in the carcass or 
leg of a bear. After November we were not visited again 
by bears until March, and our only company in the winter 
was a number of foxes which constantly sat upon the roof 
of our hut, whence we could hear their perpetual gnawing 
at our frozen meat. It made us often dream that we 
were sitting comfortably at home listening to the rats in 
the loft above; and we by no means grudged them a 
little of all our abundance. These foxes were of both the 
white variety and the valuable dark-furred kind, and had 
we been so inclined we could easily have laid by a good 
store of valuable furs. Our supply of ammunition, how- 
ever, was not so large as to allow, in my opinion, of our 
spending it upon them, for it seemed to me that bears 
were the smallest game that could give us any return for 
our cartridges. 

Upon the whole, the winter passed in a manner beyond 
our expectation. Our health was excellent ; and if we 
had only had a few books, a little flour, and a little sugar, 
we were both agreed that we could have lived like lords. 

At last came spring with sunshine and birds. How 
well I remember that first evening, a few days before the 
sun had appeared above the horizon, when we suddenly 
saw a flock of little auks {rotges) sail past us along the 
mountains to the north. It was like the first greeting 
from life and spring. Many followed in their train, and 
soon the mountains around us swarmed with these little 
summer visitors of the north, which enlivened everything 
with their cheerful twittering. A dark sky, which we had 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 287 

had the whole winter, but especially now in the spring, in 
the south and southwest, seemed to imply that there must 
be water in that direction, of which it was a reflection. 
We had, therefore, every hope of making a quick and 
easy voyage in our kaiaks across to Spitzbergen, partly 
over open water, partly over drift ice ; and as daylight 
had now returned, we busied ourselves in preparations for 
this journey. 

There was much, however, to be done before we could 
set off. Our clothes were so worn out and so saturated 
with fat and dirt, that they were anything but suitable for 
a journey of this kind. We therefore made ourselves 
two entire new suits out of two blankets we had brought 
with us. Our underclothing we tried to wash as best we 
could, but never before did I know what it was to exist 
without soap. It was difficult enough to get one's person 
clean, but this we managed to a certain extent by rubbing 
in bear's blood and fat, and then rubbing this off with 
moss. But this process was not applicable to clothes. 
After trying every possible way, we found, in our despair, 
no other expedient than to boil them as best we could, 
and then scrape them with a knife. In this way we got 
so much off them that they did to travel with, though the 
thought of putting on clean clothes when we once more 
got back to Norway was always in our minds as the 
greatest enjoyment that life could bestow. We had to 
make a new sleeping-bag of bear-skins, which we dried 
and prepared by stretching them out under the roof of 
our hut. Our good, precious silk tent, which we had had 
during the whole of the preceding year's journey, had at 
last, during the autumn storms, become so worn out that 
I did not think it could be used any more. We were 



288 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

now, therefore, obliged to employ our sledge sails as a 
tent. Our provisions for the journey were chiefly bear's 
flesh and fat, and our fuel was train oil and blubber, and 
we were sure of finding sufficient game on the way when 
the provisions we took with us gave out. 

At length, on May 19, we were ready, and started 
southward in short day's marches. On May 23, in 81° 
5' N. lat, we came to the open water, of which, during 
the whole winter and spring, we had seen the reflection 
above the horizon ; and we now rejoiced at the thought 
of going south in our kaiaks. Storms, however, detained 
us until June 3. These storms had caused the ice to set 
in and block the water, so that we now went south over 
the ice, a favorable wind permitting us to make use of 
sails on our sledges, so that we got on at a good rate. A 
little farther south we found extensive tracts of land, 
whose northern coast stretched in a westerly direction. 
To the west-northwest along this coast lay open water. 
I was in doubt for a while as to whether we ought not 
to take to the water, and go on in that direction, but 
thought that this would again take us too far north, and 
therefore preferred to steer south over flat ice through a 
broad, unknown sound. Here, too, a favorable wind per- 
mitted the employment of sails on our sledges, and we 
went along at a really considerable speed. 

On June 12 we at last reached the south side of the 
group of islands, and there came upon a large open piece 
of water, extending westward along the south coast. 
The wind was still favorable. By tying together our two 
kaiaks, rigging up a bamboo rod as mast on them, and 
then hoisting our sledge sails, we were now able to sail 
upon this open water along the coast, and' in this way 




19 



290 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

made good progress. When the wind dropped or became 
less favorable, we took down our sails and paddled on. 

In this way we began to approach the southwestern 
point of the group of islands, and rejoiced at the thought 
of being able to cross over to Spitzbergen, where in the 
course of a few weeks we were certain to be on board a 
homeward-bound Norwegian vessel. 

As we passed along this coast we noticed how remark- 
ably the latitude I obtained by my observations agreed 
with the latitude that Leigh-Smith had found for the 
south coast of Franz Josef Land. It was also remarka- 
ble how well, both in direction and appearance, this coast 
seemed to agree with Leigh-Smith's map ; and I there- 
fore began to suspect that in spite of everything we were 
still on the south coast of Franz Josef Land, and had 
come south through a wide sound cutting straight across 
Zichy Land, which has hitherto been regarded as con- 
tinuous, but now resolves itself into a chain of small 
islands. 

During our voyage along this south coast we had sev- 
eral mishaps, which, however, ended happily. One day, 
when we had been sailing along the shore, we lay to in 
the evening to the ice to reconnoitre our farther way 
westward. In leaving the kaiaks, we made them fast to 
the ice by a strong strap, which we thought was perfectly 
reliable. While we were a little way off on the top of a 
hummock, however, we discovered that our linked boats 
had broken from their moorings and were rapidly drift- 
ing away from the ice, carried along by the wind. All 
our provisions were on board, our whole outfit, our guns, 
and our ammunition. There we stood upon the ice, en- 
tirely without resource. Our only safety lay in reaching 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 291 

our kaiaks, and I had no choice but to spring into the 
water and try to reach them by swimming. 

It was, however, a struggle for Hfe, for the kaiaks 
seemed to drift more rapidly before the wind than I could 
swim ; the icy water gradually robbed my whole body of 
feeling, and it became more and more difficult to use my 
limbs. At length I reached the side of our craft ; but it 
was only by summoning up my last energies that I finally 
succeeded in getting on board, and we were saved. 

Two days later my kaiak was attacked by a walrus. 
These monsters had tried several times to put an end to 
us by suddenly coming up from below, and attacking the 
kaiak with a violent blow, which might easily have upset 
us, but this they had hitherto not succeeded in doing. 
This time, however, the attack was more violent. The 
walrus suddenly pushed up beside my kaiak, and, laying 
one flipper on its edge, tried to upset it, at the same 
time driving its long tusks into the bottom, fortunately, 
however, without touching me. I managed to give the 
walrus such a blow on the head with the paddle that it 
rose high up out of the water, threatening to fall upon 
me, but disappeared the next moment as quickly as it had 
come. The water was rushing into the kaiak through 
the long rent made in the bottom by the walrus, and I 
was sinking rapidly, and only at the last moment managed 
to run my kaiak on to a floe that was projecting under 
the water, and escaped in safety from the boat on to the 
ice. The next day was employed in repairing the kaiak, 
and in drying clothes, outfit, photographic apparatus, etc., 
which were all soaked with sea-water, though fortunately 
no real harm was done. 

The following day, when we were about to continue 



292 



NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 



our journey, and as I was just preparing breakfast before 
starting, I went up on to a hummock to reconnoitre land- 
ward. As I stood there, puffs of wind came across to 
me from the land, carrying a confused noise from the 
thousands of loons and other sea-birds which inhabited 
the mountains there. As I was listening to all these bird- 
voices, I suddenly started at a completely different sound, 
which so much resembled the barking of a dog that for 
a moment it seemed to me that there could be no doubt 
of its being this. But then it was once more lost in the 
noise of the birds, and I thought I must have been mis- 
taken. Again, however, the wind brought over a fresh 
stream of sound, which left no doubt whatever of there 
actually being dogs in the neighborhood. I ran down 
and waked Johansen in the sleeping-bag by saying, " I 
have heard dogs ! " But I could not make him compre- 
hend, so I gulped down my breakfast, put on my ski, and 
dashed off across the ice. As I approached the shore I 
saw a man coming toward me. It was Mr. Jackson, and 
hearty was the handshake with which he welcomed me. 

[In order to make the narrative more complete, as well 
as to give merited recognition to one of the leading recent 
enterprises in the field of Arctic research, we will say that 
the gentleman whom Dr. Nansen so opportunely met at 
this critical time was Mr. F. G. Jackson, leader of the 
Jackson-Harmsworth expedition which left England in 
1894. Very soon after the meeting of these explorers 
one of the members of the Jackson party came to the 
Nansen camp. He was closely followed by four compan- 
ions. They all gave Lieutenant Johansen a cordial greet- 
ing, and then escorted him to the headquarters of the 
expedition. 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 



293 





MEETING OF DR. NANSEN AND MR. JACKSON IN FRANZ JOSEF LAND, JUNE, 1896 
[By permission of Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth, of the Jacksou-Harmsworih expeditioiC) 



Before organizing this expedition Mr. Jackson had seen 
a good deal of Arctic work, and had won distinction by 
making, in connection with his investigations, a sledge 
journey of four thousand miles. For a long time he had 
desired to explore Franz Josef Land and the area to the 
north of this comparatively unknown region.. His plans 



294 NANS EN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

were carefully laid, and they seemed so practicable that 
he was enabled, under the most favorable conditions, to 
make an effort to put them into execution. He found a 
munificent patron in Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth, a mem- 
ber of the Royal Geographical Society, who not only con- 
sented to bear the whole expense of the expedition, but 
also gave a great deal of time and personal effort in 
securing as complete an equipment as it was possible to 
obtain. 

A whaler named the Windward, an exceedingly strong 
ship which had been constructed with special reference to 
service in the ice, was purchased and transformed into a 
steam yacht. Several boats of different types were built, 
and seventeen sledges, of an improved pattern designed 
by Mr. Jackson, were made. Tents, materials ready to be 
put together for houses, and a large supply of excellent 
scientific instruments also formed a part of the outfit. 
For the first time in the history of Arctic exploration a 
few ponies were taken for use in travelling and in hauling 
loads. These were obtained at Archangel, and thirty 
dogs were secured from Western Siberia. 

The Windward sailed from Greenhithe on the after- 
noon of July II, left Archangel early in August, and pro- 
ceeded to Franz Josef Land. At Cape Flora, Jackson, 
with his few companions, established his headquarters. 
The settlement, which consisted of seven huts, was named 
Elmwood. The Windward returned home, and was on 
her second voyage to the station when Nansen and 
Johansen became the guests of its inmates. 

The primary object of this expedition was to make a 
thorough exploration of Franz Josef Land, both of the 
coast and of the interior, and thus determine whether it 



THE GREAT SLEDGE EXPEDITION 295 

is the southern portion of a great polar continent or a 
collection of islands. In this work Mr. Jackson has been 
very successful, having discovered many islands, and an 
important body of water which he has named Queen 
Victoria Sea. As nearly or quite all that is required in 
this direction has been performed, it is understood that in 
the spring or summer of the present year (1897), Mr. 
Jackson will take up the secondary, though very interest- 
ing and important work of the expedition, and either upon 
the open water or -the frozen surface of this great sea, 
according to its condition at the time, commence a voyage 
or a journey which will be continued as far as possible 
toward the Pole.] 



CHAPTER XVI 



HOMEWARD BOUND 



We were received here with a hospitahty and hearti- 
ness such as those Arctic surroundings can seldom have 
witnessed ; and though we had fully intended to go on our 
way to Spitzbergen, which would probably be our quick- 
est way home, we could not tear ourselves away from this 
hospitable spot, again renounce all the ease and comfort 
which were here offered to us, and once more take our 
pilgrim's staff into our hand. We decided to accept the 
kind invitation to wait for the Windward, which was soon 
to arrive, and then again return to Europe. 

Never shall I forget how delightful it was, as soon as 
we entered Jackson's comfortably arranged house, to have 
a warm bath. It was not, indeed, possible to become 
clean the first time, but still it imparted a feeling of clean- 
liness ; and then delightfully soft, clean woollen garments 
to follow, to be shaved and have one's hair cut, have a 
capital dinner, coffee, cigars, port wine, and, last but not 
least, books and the latest literature (two years old, indeed, 
but new to us) — in short, we felt all at once transported, 
as if by the stroke of a magic wand, into the heart of civ- 
ilization. The attention, the consideration, which every 
member of this expedition offered us was touching, and 
made an indelible impression on both of us. It seemed 
as if their aim was to soften by their kindness the recol- 
lection of last winter's loneliness and dreariness. 



HOMEWARD BOUND 



297 




^. 






DR. NANSEN, AS PHOTOGRAPHED BY MR. JACKSON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEIR 
MEETING IN FRANZ JOSEF LAND, IN JUNE, 1896 

{By perviissioii of Mr. Alfred C. Harinsworik, of the fackson-Harinsworth expedition.) 



We now discovered that my suspicions, as indicated 
above, were correct. We were actually on the south coast 
of Franz Josef Land, and had arrived at Cape Flora, on 
Northbrook Island. Our observations and determination 
of longitude were fairly correct, in spite of everything, 
and our chronometers proved to have been right. On 
the other hand, there were mistakes in Payer's map, 



298 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

which had put me on the wrong track — mistakes of 
which I have not yet found an explanation, but will find, 
it is to be hoped, on conferring more closely with Payer 
himself. 

The broad sound through which we , had come south 
this spring lay just a little west of Austria Sound, and 
was considerably larger than the last-named sound. It 
had already been traversed by Jackson, and called by him 
the British Channel. 

During the winter we had been encamped just to the 
west of Austria Sound, on an island which I have called 
Frederick Jackson's Island. Before we set out on our 
expedition, I stated, in my lecture before the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, my opinion that Franz Josef Land was 
only a group of islands. This opinion has now been 
fully confirmed. Franz Josef Land is not only a group 
of islands, but a group of little islands of such small 
extent as perhaps no one had thought possible. In my 
opinion the islands forming Franz Josef Land may be 
considered as a continuation of East Spitzbergen, and the 
most important, most interesting subject yet to be worked 
out is the exploration of the still unknown western part 
of Franz Josef Land and its connection with Spitzbergen, 
In this region there are probably many new islands which 
it is to be hoped Jackson and his expedition will have an 
opportunity of discovering and charting. How far north 
the islands extend it is not yet possible to determine, but 
it is scarcely likely to be very far. 

I will not venture an opinion as to whether Petermann 
Land has any existence ; our course was so easterly that 
it may well have been too far off to be seen ; but in that 
case it must be an island of inconsiderable extent. The 



HOMEWARD BOUND 



299 



whole of that part of Franz Josef Land traversed by us 
consisted of basalt, and has once formed a continuous 
basaltic land, which is now, however, by numerous chan- 
nels and fjords, cut up into small islands, entirely or in 
great measure covered with glaciers, and where only here 
and there along the shore the dark basaltic rocks are 
visible. As a rule the land does not rise to a hei2:ht of 
2,000 feet above the sea, and only occasionally did the gla- 
ciers seem to approach to a height of 3,000 feet. On the 
south side of the country there is, beneath the basalt, a 
deep stratum of clay which extends to a height of from 
500 to 600 feet above the sea, and which belongs to the 
Jura formation, and where both Dr. Koetlitz, of the Jack- 
son expedition, and I found numerous fossils of various 
kinds, chiefly Ammonites and Belemnites, which leave no 
doubt as to its age. As far as I can for the present say, a 
large part of this clay belongs to the so-called Oxford clay. 
Lignite and fossil wood were also common in these clay 
strata. In a few places numerous fossil plants were also 
found, whose age I have not yet had time to determine, but 
which probably belong to a later formation than the Jura. 
In the mean time the days at Cape Flora passed imper- 
ceptibly. We spent .our time partly in making scientific 
excursions of small extent, partly in reading, writing, and 
preparing a map of our route across Franz Josef Land 
as it appeared, according to our investigations, to be. In- 
cessantly did we scan the horizon in expectation of the 
Windward, the ship which was to come from Europe ; 
but a great quantity of ice lay in the sea outside, no 
sail appeared on the horizon, and as time went on we be- 
came more and more impatient, and more and more often 
did anxious remarks fall on the possibility of the ice hin- 



300 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

dering the Windward from coming in this year. When 
a month had passed, Johansen and I began to repent a 
Httle that we had stopped here, and had not gone straight 
on to Spitzbergen, where we should probably long before 
this have found a ship and been on our way home. I 
began to think, indeed, of setting off again, as I was un- 
willing to risk passing another winter in the Arctic re- 
gions. I was tolerably certain that the Fram would come 
home this year, and would then, of course, throw our 
friends into the greatest anxiety with regard to our fate ; 
there would then hardly have been any hope at home of 
ever seeing us again. 

At length, when six weeks had passed, I was suddenly 
aroused one night by Mr. Jackson with the news that the 
Windward had arrived. The cheers and joyful exclama- 
tions with which the news of our arrival at Cape Flora 
were received on board the Windward were proofs of such 
great and sincere delight that we could hardly have ex- 
pected greater from our own countrymen. It was a fresh 
demonstration of the sympathy M^iich exists between the 
English and Norwegian nations. 

The stores brought for the Jackson expedition were 
soon unshipped from the Windward, and by the aid of 
sledges dragged over the ice to land. In less than a week 
all was ready; and as soon as letters and telegrams for 
home were w^ritten, on August 7, we went on board, and 
the Windzvard weighed anchor to make for home. 

On board the ship we had the shortest and pleasantest 
homeward journey that perhaps any Arctic expedition has 
ever had. We again experienced English hospitality to 
its fullest extent, and those days can certainly never be 
forgotten by either Johansen or myself. 



HOMEWARD BOUND 301 

There was a great deal of ice in the sea between Franz 
Josef Land and Nova Zembla, and it would certainly 
have been only too easy to run the little Windward so 
far into the closely packed ice that it would have taken 
weeks and months to get out again. But with his great 
experience and his clear-sightedness in all that concerned 
ice and ice navigation, Captain Brown, the old whaler 
under whose command the Windward now was, knew 
how to find just the only way that would be certain to 
take us through 220 miles of ice out into the open sea to 
the north of Nova Zembla, and thence shape a straight 
course for Vardo, where we arrived on August 13, six 
days after having left Cape Flora. 

Thus I and one man of my expedition had now come 
to our native land, where we were received with open 
arms. Our first question after setting foot on Norwegian 
soil was whether anything had been heard of the Fram 
and our comrades. Our fear the whole winter and spring 
had been that the Fram would reach home before us. 
To our relief, however, we now learned that nothing had 
been heard of the Fram, and our friends had been saved 
from unnecessary anxiety. I telegraphed immediately to 
the King of Norway and the Norwegian Government that 
all was well on board the Fram when we left her, and that 
I fully expected her and the remaining members of the 
expedition home again safe and sound in a short time. 

Great, then, was the joy when, in Hammerfest, on Au- 
gust 21,1 received a telegram from Skjarvo, a little port 
not far off, to say that the Fram had arrived in the night, 
all well on board. 



CHAPTER XVII 

HOW THE " FRAM " FARED SVERDRUP's STORY 

When I left the Fram, I gave instructions to Sverdrup. 
Among other things they ran thus : " The chief aim of the 
expedition is to push through the unknown Polar Sea, 
from the district around New Siberia north of Franz 
Josef Land, out to the Atlantic Ocean near Spitzbergen 
or Greenland. The principal part of this task I consider 
we have already accomplished ; the rest will be accom- 
plished little by little as the expedition goes farther west. 
In order to make the expedition yet more productive, I 
will make an attempt to push on farther to the north with 
dogs. Your duty will then be to bring the lives hereby 
entrusted to you home by the safest way, and not to ex- 
pose them to needless danger, either out of regard to the 
ship, cargo, or results of the expedition. 

" How long it may be before the Fram drifts out into 
open water no one can tell. You have provisions for 
several years ; but should it, for some unknown reason, 
take too long, or should the crew begin to suffer in health, 
or you for any other reason consider it best to abandon 
the vessel, this should unquestionably be done. At what 
time it should take place, as also the way that ought to 
be chosen, you yourself will be best able to judge. Should 
it be necessary, I consider Franz Josef Land and Spitz- 
bergen to be the best lands to make for. If search is 
made for the expedition after Johansen's and my arrival 







CAPTAIN OTTO NEUMANN SVERDRUP 



304 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

home, it will first be made there. When you come to 
land you should as often as possible erect conspicuous 
cairns on promontories and projecting headlands, and 
within each cairn place a short statement of what has 
been done, and whither you are going. In order to make 
these cairns distinguishable from others, a very small 
cairn should be erected four metres from the large one 
in a northward direction by the magnet. What outfit 
will be the best in case of the abandoning of the Fram is 
a question we have so often discussed that I consider it 
superfluous to dwell on it here. I know that you will 
take care that the needful number of kaiaks for all the 
men, sledges, ski, snow-shoes, and other articles of outfit, 
are put in order as soon as possible, and kept in readi- 
ness, so that such a journey over the ice could be under- 
taken with the greatest possible ease. Information as to 
the provisions I consider most suitable for a journey of 
this kind, and the quantity necessary for each man, I give 
elsewhere. 

" I know, too, that you will hold everything in readi- 
ness to abandon the Fram in the shortest possible time 
in the event of a sudden misfortune befallino^ her in the 
shape of fire or pressure. If the ice permits, I consider 
it advisable that there should always be a depot, with 
sufficient provisions, etc., upon a safe place on the ice, 
such as we have lately had. All necessary things which 
cannot be upon the ice ought to be so placed on board 
that they are easy to get at under any circumstances. As 
you know, there are only concentrated sledge provisions 
now in the depot; but as it is not impossible that the ex- 
pedition might have to remain quiet for some time before 
setting off, it would be extremely desirable to save as much 



HOW THE ''FRAM" FARED 305 

tinned meat, fish, and vegetables as possible. Should dis- 
turbed times come, I would even consider it advisable to 
have a supply of these articles also ready on the ice. 

" Should the Fram in drifting bear far to the north of 
Spitzbergen and get into the current under the east coast 
of Greenland, many possibilities could be imagined, which 
now it is not easy to form any opinion about ; but should 
you be obliged to abandon the Fra77t, and make for the 
land, it would be best for you to erect cairns, as mentioned 
above, there too, as search might possibly be made for the 
expedition there. In that case, whether you ought to 
make for Iceland (which is the nearest land, and whither 
you would be able to go in the spring by following the 
edge of the ice) or for the Danish colonies west of Cape 
Farewell, you will be better able to judge when you see 
the circumstances. 

" The things that ought to be taken with you, if the 
Fram be abandoned, after the necessary provisions, are 
weapons, ammunition, and outfit, all scientific and other 
journals, observations, all scientific collections that are not 
too heavy (in the latter case small samples of them), pho- 
tographs, the original plates by preference, or if they are 
too heavy, then copies of them — the areometer, with 
which most of the observations on the specific gravity 
of sea-water are made, besides, of course, all journals and 
memoranda which are of any interest. I leave behind 
two or three journals and letters which I will request 
you to take especial care of, and deliver to my wife, if 
I should not come home, or you, contrary to expectation, 
should get home before us. 

" Hansen and Blessing will, as you know, take charge 
of the various scientific observations and collections; you 



3o6 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

yourself will see to the soundings, and that they are taken 
as often as opportunity permits. As the crew was small 
before, and will now be still further reduced by two men, 
some work may fall to each man's lot ; but I know that as 
far as possible you will spare men to assist in the scientific 
observations, and make these as complete as possible. . . . 

" In conclusion, I wish all possible success to you, and 
those for whom you are now responsible ; and may we 
meet again in Norway, whether it be on board this vessel 
or without her." 

The requests I had here set down Sverdrup made it a 
matter of conscience to comply with, and the summer 
after Johansen and I had left the Fram was employed, 
not only in the work necessary for the safety of the vessel, 
but in making the outfit required for a sledge journey 
over the ice as perfect and complete as could well be. 
And never, perhaps, has an expedition been better pre- 
pared for leaving their vessel than this, although the prob- 
abilities were that the necessity for so doing would not 
occur. Light canvas kaiaks, each to hold two men, had 
already been partly completed on board before I left, and 
sledges, ski, snow-shoes, cooking apparatus, dog harness, 
etc., were all tested and put in good order, and, as will be 
seen from the orders given, provisions were kept in readi- 
ness. Before we left the ship some time had been spent 
in carting away the piled-up masses of ice which had been 
forced against the Frams sides during the pressure of 
January, 1895, and the removal of this ice was continued 
after we left. 

At the end of March, just as the last of this mass had 
been removed, the ice cracked in all directions around the 
ship, and a broad crack was formed which passed at the 



HOW THE '' FRAW FARED 307 

distance of a few feet from the stern of the vessel. Sub- 
sequently in this crack there was great pressure, and the 
ice quite split up, so that the greater part of the Fram lay- 
in open water by the end of July. The stern, however, 
was still frozen fast in a great block of ice. An attempt 
was made to break this up by blasting, which seemed, how- 
ever, at the time, to have had very little effect, only a small 
crack in the ice appearing ; and Sverdrup was standing on 
the ice talking with some of his companions as to what 
more should be done to get the vessel afloat, when they 
suddenly noticed that she was slowly beginning to move, 
and before they were aware of it the vessel glided from 
her icy slip into the water with a deafening noise, while 
the spray was thrown from her bows in every direction. 
It was like the launching of a ship, and her return to open 
water was welcomed by the crew with ringing cheers. 
That year, however, the Frams freedom did not last long. 
By warping and sawing she was again brought into a safe 
haven, and in August was again frozen fast. 

At first, after we had left the ship, the drift was not of 
much importance ; but toward the end of April it became 
somewhat stronger in a westerly direction. On July 22, 
1895, the Fram was in 84° 50^ N. lat, 73° E. long. Al 
this time there seemed to be a great deal of movement in 
the ice, and strong pressure on all sides in the vicinity. 
After this southwesterly and westerly winds set in, which 
during the latter part of the summer stopped the Frams 
drifting, and even drove her back in an easterly and 
notherly direction. Not until October did she again bear 
to the west, and during the remainder of the autumn and 
the winter the drift was better than ever. On October 
16, 1895, the Fram was in her highest observed latitude, 



3o8 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

viz., 85° 57' N. lat. and 66° E. long. Some days later she 
was still farther north, but on those days it was cloudy, so 
that no observations could be taken. By the middle of 
February, 1896, the Fram had come in a southwesterly 
direction to 84° 20 N. lat. and 24° E. long. But here, 
quite unexpectedly, long-continued south winds stopped 
the drift until May, when it again began to go south, until 
on July 19 they were in 83° 14' N. lat, and 14 E. long., 
where the work of getting the Fram out of the ice began. 
Had she not got loose here, but had been obliged to con- 
tinue drifting, she would of course have come south with 
the polar ice along the east coast of Greenland, toward 
which the direction of her drift pointed directly ; and 
had she not got loose before, she would have been driven 
south right to Cape Farewell, a drift which has already 
been accomplished several times, and which would, there- 
fore, not have been so well worth repeating. 

Throughout her drift through the unknown Polar Sea 
from New Siberia to the north of Spitzbergen, the Fram 
was constantly exposed to pressure, none, however, being 
so serious as that, already described, in January, 1895. 
During this last summer, especiahy now in June, 1896, the 
pressure was particularly great, and of a peculiar nature. 
The Fram at that time lay in a channel, which, with 
the changing tidal current, alternately opened and closed 
twice during the twenty-four hours. Throughout one 
week in June, at the spring tides, the pressure in this 
channel was extremely hard, and the Fram was regularly 
lifted up once or twice a day, so high that her bottom 
could often be seen above the ice. But broad and safe 
as she is, she rose quietly, without letting a sound be 
heard within, either in timber or woodwork. No one on 



j IfOW THE ''FRAM" FARED 309 

board was awakened by the pressure, even when at its 
height; while it often happened that Sverdrup himself, 

I who is a very light sleeper, awoke in the morning with- 

! out an idea of what had taken place in the night. Only 
when he came on deck and looked over the bulwarks did 

j he observe how high the vessel was raised above the 
surface of the ice. 

This quiet raising was of course due to the well- 
adapted lines on which the Fram was built. This, too, 
is the reason why, even when raised highest, she did not 
heel over to any great extent; as a rule she lay almost 
horizontal. Sometimes she heeled over a few degrees, 
but the greatest heehng over that the Fram did in the ice 

, amounted to 8°. 

I have already mentioned the temperatures of the first 
winter. I will only add here that the two subsequent 
winters on board the Fram were not colder than that 
one. It is well known that the districts south of the delta 
of the Lena in Siberia form one of the poles of maximum 
cold of the northern hemisphere. It was therefore not to 
be expected that the winters in the northern part of the 
unknown Polar Sea, which we were going to explore, 
would be found colder than those to the north of the 
Siberian coast. This, too, proved to be the case. Of 
course, the temperatures in all three winters were rather 
low on board the Fram-, while we two who were on Franz 
Josef Land had a considerably milder winter; but as a 
set-off we had the more violent storms, from which the 
interior of the polar basin is to a great extent exempt. 
The summers in the polar basin were also rather cool, 
the temperature generally remaining at about freezing 
point, and only occasionally rising a few degrees above it. 



3IO JVANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

The highest temperature observed during the journey 
was, as far as I remember, 7° or 8° (Fahrenheit) above 
freezing. The fall of moisture in the inner regions of the 
polar basin was very small, as the cold air carries very 
little moisture with it. All the winter and spring, there- 
fore, we had, as a rule, unusually settled, clear weather ; 
while, on the other hand, in the latter part of the summer 
no small amount of fog might often be seen lying low 
down on the surface of the ice. Rain was, of course, a 
great rarity. 

During the whole voyage the Aurora Borealis was of 
exceedingly common occurrence, and scarcely a day passed 
in which it was not observed, provided the sky allowed at 
all of its being seen. We thus had exceptional opportu- 
nities of studying this wonderful natural phenomenon, 
which often rose to a grand intensity, setting the entire 
sky in flames. Northern lights of various colors were 
very frequent, and at times the colors were surprisingly 
intense. On the other hand, no sound was ever heard 
from them, nor did we ever see them quite low. 

Atmospherical electricity was also a subject of investi- 
gation, and sometimes the electricity was fairly strong. 
The result of these investigations, however, cannot be 
discussed until later. During the whole journey, samples 
of the air were taken in glass tubes, and will be analyzed 
at home. 

The depth we had found during the earlier part of our 
drift continued after I had left the Fram, and the lead 
showed between 1,800 and 1,900 fathoms, until the water 
began to grow shallow, as the Frain worked her way south 
toward Spitzbergen. The water temperatures, too, con- 
tinued almost unchanged ; but the layer of warm water 



HOW THE "FRAM'' FARED 311 

below the cold, fresher water, which I have already men- 
tioned, became somewhat deeper toward the west, the 
nearer they came to the North Atlantic Ocean between 
Spitzbergen and Greenland. 

I have already said that the health on board was unus- 
ually good, and so it continued to be the last year also. 
The only cases of illness were one or two slight attacks of 
gastric catarrh, a short attack of rheumatism, and two or 
three other trifles. There was no sign of scurvy during 
the whole journey, and in my opinion this disease cannot 
appear if sufficient attention and care are given to the 
provision department in fitting out an expedition ; and it 
is therefore a disease which ought to be forever banished 
from Arctic expeditions, — this disease which has hitherto 
been the one to claim the greatest number of victims 
offered to polar explorations. 

When in June and July of this summer the expedition 
began to see some prospect of being able to force its way 
south with the Franz, much labor was spent in getting 
her out of the ice, a task which was not easy in the great 
packed masses. The only way was to try to blow up 
these pieces of ice by blasting, in which process both gun- 
cotton and ordinary gunpowder were employed. The 
former of these proved to be the most effectual ; but 
heavy charges of gunpowder might also, if judiciously 
placed, have had a capital effect. 

During these blasting experiments an accident hap- 
pened which might easily have had the most serious 
consequences. Sverdrup, with one man as helper, had 
just laid a train in a crack in the ice, and set light to the 
fuse, when suddenly the piece on which they stood gave 
way, and they fell into the water with the charge, and the 



312 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

burning fuse close to them. The situation was anything 
but agreeable, and they made the most desperate exertions 
to get on to the ice again, and out of reach of the charge 
before it exploded ; but the edge of the ice was high, and 
it was only after two or three unsuccessful attempts that 
they succeeded in getting to a place of safety. The 
charge exploded soon after. 

After several days of exhausting labor at this ice-blast- 
ing they at last succeeded in setting the Fram free, and 
on July 19 the work of forcing her southward through 
the closely packed ice began in earnest. The ice here was 
tremendous throughout, the floes sometimes being so 
large that the end of them could not be seen even with a 
glass. No open water was visible, and the situation often 
looked hopeless. But it is a capital thing not to have any 
way of retreat ; in other words, to have no choice but to 
go on. So on they went, and they had a capital vessel, 
by whose means the impossible became possible. By 
steaming and warping they forced their way, bit by bit, 
through ice which would have made most men give them- 
selves up to despair ; and when it was too bad for this, a 
way was made by blasting. For about a month they 
kept on with this work, and during that time broke their 
way through 1 50 geographical miles of ice — ice perhaps 
vaster than any other vessel has ever yet ventured upon ; 
and on August 13, the very day on which Johansen and I 
arrived at Vardo, they got out of the ice into open water. 

At the time of their coming out of the ice there was a 
fog, which, however, soon lifted, and close by was seen 
a small vessel, the Sisters (Sostrene), a schooner from 
Tromso, which greeted the Fram with hearty cheers. 
Captain Bottolfsen coming on board. The first question 



HOW THE '' FRAM" FARED 



313 



put to him was whether Nansen and Johansen had ar- 
rived in Norway. The negative answer to this acted hke 
an uncomfortable damper on the joy they had experienced 
in getting out of the ice, and few on board the Fram had 
any hope now of ever seeing us again. Supposing, how- 
ever, that people on Spitzbergen might be better informed, 
they went there to meet Andree, who was supposed to 
be at that place. There, however, the intelligence was no 
more reassuring, and their fears for us — their two com- 
rades — grew more and more serious. Captain Sverdrup 
was perhaps the only man on board who still believed 
that we were alive ; he thought that we had arrived at 
Franz Josef Land so late last autumn that we had been 
obliged to winter there with Jackson's expedition, and all 
on board were agreed to go at once to Franz Josef Land 
to look for us. The Fram was indeed fully equipped 
for starting on a new polar expedition, should it be neces- 
sary. To make quite certain, however, it was decided to 
go home to Norway to see if there might be any later 
intelligence of us there. 

It was during the night of August 20 that the Fram 
cast anchor in the little haven of Skjarvo, in Finmark. 
Sverdrup immediately rowed ashore to despatch some tele- 
grams. After he had hammered for some time in vain 
upon the various doors of the telegraph office, a head was 
put out of a window, and an angry voice called out : — 

" It 's too bad that one can't even be allowed a quiet 
night's rest ! What do you want, and who are you ? " 

" My name is Sverdrup, and I am captain of the Fram,'' 
came the quiet answer. 

At this the tone of voice in the window immediately 
changed. " I '11 come directly," it shouted, and the win- 



314 



NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 





1 




v 


i 


\ 




- 


""^"^w^ - I y 


L ... 




i i iiiMiiiiin'^'''^ 


& 

-^ d 


^"■^K-^^i ^'—^ 


IB 


^^^^^^^^^^^^HRw** 


^^*j1j*. *"*^^ ^2^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 







THE "FRAM" in the HARBOR OF CHRISTIANIA AFTER HER RETURN 



dow was closed again. Sverdrup went around the house 
to the entrance, and there, to his surprise, found the 
person whom he had seen at the window in the simplest 
deshabille standing fully dressed before him. No human 
being had ever dressed more quickly, he thought ; and his 
astonishment was not lessened by the first words that the 
head of the telegraph office said to him, " Nansen and 
Johansen have come back." 

Sverdrup hardly gave himself time to answer, but 
rushed down the island to the shore to shout out the 
glad news to his comrades, who fell on one another's 
necks in mad delight. The news was immediately sent 
out over the water to the Fram, which soon after greeted 
it with a salute of two guns, which echoed far out into the 
still summer night, proclaiming the return of the Norwe- 
gian polar expedition to its native land. (Nansen and 
Johansen met the Fram in Tromso harbor.) 



RECEPTION AND FESTIVITIES AT CHRISTIANIA 

The reception which took place at Christiania on Sep- 
tember 9 was so brilliant that no sovereign could be 
welcomed more royally. 

As soon as the tidings of Nansen's and the Frams 
return were flashed over the world, committees were 
formed to arrange great festivities, and they worked with 
unremitting zeal to have everything ready at the proper 
time. The notice was rather short, but it appeared to be 
long enough, as everybody was anxious to assist, and a 
hundred willing hands were ready where there was room 
and use for only two. 

On Wednesday, September 9, the capital of Norway 
was in its best attire. There were flags everywhere along 
the route of the procession, and festoons of evergreens, 
and shields with the names of the explorers in silver on a 
blue ground ; but the most original spectacle was an im- 
mense triumphal arch, occupied by several hundred young 
people dressed in white. 

All business was suspended, stores and offices closed 
at noon, and crowds of people thronged the streets from 
early morning. 

The festivities commenced on Christiania Fjord. A 
fleet of about a hundred gayly decorated steamers, large 
and small, sailed out in the morning to meet the Frain 
and escort the good ship to the city. While this grand 
demonstration was taking place on the sea, every locality 
in and around the city from which one could get a view 
was filled with people. 

When the larg^e fleet of steamers met the Fram and 



3i6 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

her escort of eight men-of-war, a tremendous cheer rang 
out, and the Fram steamed into port amidst the salutes 
from the ships and the guns on land. She looked quite 
insignificant with her sombre and ice-battered hull in 
these gay surroundings. 

The guns of the fortress then gave the signal that the 
fleet had arrived, and a boat rowed by quite young sailor 
boys took Nansen and his men from the Fram^ while the 
multitude cheered and waved their handkerchiefs on see- 
ing the hero of the day, who was dressed in his celebrated 
blue jacket. At the pavilion, on the pier, a large chorus 
of men sang with great effect, at this inspiring moment, 
the well-known hymn, " A Mighty Fortress is our God." 

While everybody present joined in singing the national 
hymn, Nansen and his comrades walked from the boat to 
the tent, where the indescribably joyful meeting with their 
families and most intimate friends took place. Then 
followed the official reception, at which Mr. Sunde, the 
president of the Christiania City Council, made the speech 
of welcome. After deafening cheers Nansen responded 
in a loud, sonorous voice : — 

" Countrymen : it is a difficult task to express the feel- 
ings that animate my comrades and myself. Well I 
remember the day we left home. The fjord lay before 
us heavy with rain ; it was hard to say Good-by, and 
great was the responsibility; we felt that Norway's best 
wishes were with us ; we realized that if we flinched the 
country would be disappointed. But I was certain that 
my men would do their duty even to the shedding of the 
last drop of blood. I can say that no one ever went to 
the North with nobler men than I did. I thank you, 
from the bottom of my heart, for your greeting of wel- 



3i8 NANSEN IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

come, — a greeting that hardly any other Norwegian ever 
received. Thanks to Christiania. We only did our 
duty, therefore the welcome is doubly dear to us. Long 
life to our capital city ! May it often send out men like 
those it sent with me ! " 

After the reception was ended the explorers were taken 
into carriages, — Nansen and Captain Sverdrup in the 
first, — leading the procession as it moved up through 
the city. 

They received unceasing ovations, and on passing un- 
der the triumphal arch, with its living decorations, flowers 
were thrown to the heroes. The professors and students 
awaited them at the university, and on their arrival the 
rector, Professor Schibtz, on behalf of science, welcomed 
Nansen and crowned " The Heroes from the Desolate 
Ice Fields " with laurel. 

The goal of the procession was the royal castle, into 
which Nansen and his men passed while interminable 
masses of people collected outside, and called for him so 
persistently that he had to appear, time after time, on the 
balcony to bow his acknowledgments. At the state din- 
ner that followed and to which about one hundred people 
were invited, Nansen wore the Grand Cross of the Order 
of St. Olaf, with which King Oscar had honored him at 
the reception at the castle. Sverdrup wore the cross of a 
commander, and the scientific members of the expedition 
the cross of knights, and the other members, the new 
Fram medal of silver. The only speech that was made 
was that of the King, who said : — 

" This is a notable day indeed. Nansen is now, as a 
discoverer, the victorious pioneer of aii important work of 
civilization, whom the whole world greets with acknow- 



RECEPTION AND FESTIVITIES 319 

ledgment and admiration. His countrymen greet him 
with special pride, joy, and enthusiasm, because this great 
feat was accompHshed by Norwegians alone. When the 
Fram sailed away she was followed with hope, fear, and 
doubt ; but intelligence, prudence, and dauntless courage 
dispelled our fears and fortified our hopes. Colin Arch- 
er's Fram, with Sverdrup at the helm and Nansen on the 
commander's bridge, and a crew of brave men, conquered 
the many difficulties. The Frain reached a point farther 
north than any other ship ever did ; and its fearless leader 
went still nearer to the Pole with but a single companion, 
defying dangers the thought of which makes one shud- 
der, and which cannot fail to awaken the highest admira- 
tion. A kind Providence held its protecting hand over 
our countrymen and insured them a safe return. But we 
will not give greater credit to Providence than is its due. 
Providence usually sides with prudence and courage, 
therefore we will rather emphasize the remarkable accu- 
racy of Nansen's calculations. When the Fram returned, 
a great shout of joy echoed through Norway's mountains 
and all along its coasts. The Fram has had a trium- 
phant voyage; she has returned with her full crew, unin- 
jured, and with stores still unexhausted, — all visible proofs 
of the great care that has made this polar expedition a 
success. 

"And now you stand here in the royal castle, and the 
King of Norway feels that it is not only his sacred duty, 
but that it is his incontestable right, to interpret the feel- 
ings of the Norwegian people at this moment. Accept, 
then, through me, the entire people's sincere and heart- 
felt thanks for what you have done, for the joy you have 
caused in Norwegian hearts, for the honor and lustre you 



320 NANSEJV IN THE FROZEN WORLD 

have spread over your fatherland. These evidences of 
appreciation will not die, but will survive those who are 
present here, and will descend to posterity century after 
century, as long as the Norwegian mountains stand. We 
will salute Fridtjof Nansen and his men with three times 
three cheers." 

When Nansen left the castle at nine o'clock to drive 
to his home, he found the city illuminated with bonfires 
and torches. The next day (Thursday) the city was astir 
early, ready for new ovations. In the forenoon a large 
parade consisting of over twenty thousand school chil- 
dren, dressed in their best and carrying flags, passed be- 
fore Nansen and his men, who were stationed under a 
triumphal arch, where they were nearly buried under the 
masses of flowers that the little girls threw at them. 

In the evening the city of Christiania tendered the 
party a great banquet, in which about five hundred per- 
sons participated. The next evening there was a festival 
performance at the theatre, after which a torch-light pro- 
cession of students accompanied Nansen to a banquet at 
the Students' Club. 

The ovation ended the next day with a great popular 
festival in the open air at which over thirty thousand peo- 
ple were present. There were addresses by Bjbrnstjerne 
Bjornson and others. Nansen expressed his thanks amid 
tumultuous applause. Then followed singing and dan- 
cing, illuminations and fireworks, and thus ended the great 
festival in Christiania where the whole nation had united 
to give one of its greatest sons a royal reception. 



PEARY'S JOURNEY 
ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 




LIEUTENANT ROBERT E. PEARY, U. S. N. 



THE NORTH GREENLAND EXPEDITION OF 1891-92 

Written by Eivind Astrtip for the Geographical Society of Christiania, Morway 



21 



OUTLINE OF THE PLAN 

Briefly told, the plan of Lieutenant Peary for this 
expedition was as follows: With five or six companions 
he would land at Whale Sound, on the western coast of 
Greenland, latitude "^f 35' N., in June or July. The 
remainder of the summer and the autumn were to be 
spent in erecting a hut in which to spend the winter, 
storing meat and other supplies, making scientific re- 
searches, collecting specimens, and making excursions to 
the inland ice. In addition to this, if the character of the 
season would permit, a depot of provisions was to be 
formed near the southern corner of Humboldt Glacier. 
During the winter the members of the party would repair 
their sledges and ski, mend their clothes, and get into 
readiness for use whatever they might need for travelling 
purposes. They would also practise running on ski and 
on Canadian snow-shoes. In the spring four or five of 
the party would make an effort to cross the inland ice to 
Petermann Fjord. From that point, if reached, two or 
three of them would continue the journey, while the 
others would return to Whale Sound. The advance 
party would push on to the most northern point in Green- 
land. After ascertaining its exact geographical position, 
they would commence the return trip and rejoin their 
companions at Whale Sound, and the entire party would, 
at the first opportunity, return to the United States. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 

EiviND AsTRUP, the author of this sketch of a most 
remarkable expedition, was a young Norwegian who ac- 
companied Lieutenant Peary on his perilous journey over 
the inland ice and to the most northern point of Green- 
land. The following is his narrative : — 

The number of members of this expedition was five. 
Besides Lieutenant Peary, its commander, there were Dr. 
F. A. Cook, a physician and a very active and energetic 
man who was about thirty years of age; Mr. Langdon 
Gibson, a prominent sportsman and an excellent hunter, 
who rendered invaluable assistance to the party; Mr. 
John T. Verhoeff, the mineralogist of the expedition, who 
contributed $2,000 toward fitting it out and who never 
returned; and myself. I was the youngest member of 
the party, not having completed my twentieth year when 
we left port. Each member tendered his services without 
remuneration. ^'Ia^'^.2w MeT-^;on, a c^^ored r^an who had 
been in Lieutenant Peary's service for many years, went 
with us as cook. A remarkable innovation which gave 
the expedition an added, not to say a sensational interest, 
was the presence of Lieutenant Peary's wife, who ear- 
nestly desired to accompany her husband. Up to this 
time no white woman had ever ventured into the Arctic 
regions. 

The expedition left New York June 6, 1891, in the 



3-H 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 




Kite^ a small steam sealer. Besides the members of the 
party, a number of scientists from Philadelphia sailed with 
us to make observations and collections during the voy- 
age, and intending to return in the vessel after having 
landed us at our northern port. 

After a prolonged and tedious voyage along the coasts 
of North America and Newfoundland, and over Davis 
Strait, we sighted, on June 23, the land to which we had 
longed to come. 

On the western coast of Greenland we called at the 
Danish colonies, Godhavn and Upernavik. At each of 
these places we were well received and hospitably enter- 
tained by the Danish officers stationed there. 



326 



ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



On July 2 we were stopped by ice in Melville Bay, and 
for three weeks we were able to make but little progress. 
Here the time passed very slowly, as we were all impatient 
to reach our point of destination, the place on Inglefield 
Gulf where we expected to have our winter quarters. 




ICE-PACK IN MELVILLE BAY 



Our principal occupation at this time was the shooting of 
a few seals and some sea-birds. 

On July 1 1 a great misfortune befell Lieutenant Peary. 
This was the fracturing of his right leg. Although com- 
pletely disabled physically, he accepted the situation 
calmly and uncomplainingly. For four weeks he was 
confined to his bed, but he never lost his patience or 
wavered in his confidence of success. 

Our first bear was shot on July i6. During the next 
few days .several more of these ferocious creatures were 



328 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

seen, but we were not able to get within shooting distance 
of any of them. 

While east of Cape York, on July 22, we got out of the 
pack-ice, and on the next day we beheld in the distance 
the desert coast which was to be our home during the 
coming winter. 

The place which Lieutenant Peary had finally chosen 
for our winter quarters was situated on the southern side 
of McCormick Bay a little south of latitude 78°. We 
reached it early in the morning of July 24, and spent 
almost the entire day in looking for the most suitable spot 
upon which to build our house. Toward evening we de- 
cided to take a small dry place that was near the coast, 
with a creek running directly past it. 

During the following week the crew were busy hauling 
our provisions and stores, while we were equally industri- 
ous in building a house out of the materials which we had 
brought along in the ship for that purpose. This house 
was twenty-two feet long and twelve feet broad, and was 
divided into two rooms, one of which was considerably 
larger than the other. The walls and roof were made of 
one-inch boards, which were covered on the inside with 
tarred pasteboard. A foot inside of this wall there was 
another covering of common pasteboard lined with thick 
blankets. On the outside a wall of stone, three feet high, 
was built around the house. Upon this wall we piled the 
numerous boxes and barrels in which our provisions were 
stored. In the autumn we stretched a canvas awning 
from the roof of the wall around the house, and thus 
formed a closed passage surrounding the building.^ This 
aided greatly in keeping the interior warm and cosey 
during the winter. 



WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 329 

On July -^o the Kite left us, after Lieutenant Peary, 
who was still unable to walk, had been carried ashore on 
a stretcher which was constructed for the occasion. The 
house was then almost completed. We were not at all 
sad to see the ship, our last connection with the civilized 
world, disappear in the distance. Now we were alone, 
and could without interruption take up the work of the 
present and prepare for that which lay before us in the 
coming year. 

Before the house was quite completed we commenced 
many other things that were to be done before winter set 
in. One of the principal of these matters was to form the 
acquaintance of some Eskimos living on Northumberland 
Island and persuade them to settle near our house. This, 
because they would be of great assistance to us in the 
winter by sewing our skin garments, and might be helpful 
in various other ways. On August 1 2 four of us set out 
on a boat expedition to the island. We reached it safely 
and found some Eskimos. The first meeting with them 
seemed very queer, as we did not understand a word of 
their language and they were equally ignorant of ours. 
Still, by means of signs, we managed to make them un- 
derstand what we wanted. A family, consisting of a man, 
his wife, and two children, were willing to go with us at 
once, and we took them over in our boat, arriving at the 
house on the i8th of August. 

Summer was now far advanced. The remainder of the 
season was spent partly in making short trips to examine 
the inland ice and partly In hunting reindeer. We 
needed the latter both for their meat, to help out our 
supply of food, and for their skins, with which to make 
clothing for the winter. On these hunting trips we went 



330 ACJ^OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

nearly to the end of McCormick Bay, and we were usually 
quite successful. We had killed, in all, thirty-four rein- 
deer that autumn, when darkness set in and we were 
obliged to cease our hunting expeditions. 

On October 26 the sun left us, not to return for nearly 
four months. During about half of this period there was 
hardly any difference in the light between night and day. 
I will try to give an idea of what we did in this long 
period of darkness. As I said before, our hut was warm 
and cosey, and though the quarters were close we all got 
along very well. We had three meals each day. The 
last of these consisted of reindeer meat and different 
canned vegetables, and was more elaborate than either of 
the others. The day was spent in various kinds of man- 
ual labor. This was partly in the nature of necessity, as 
there were many things to be done in the way of prepara- 
tion for our sledge journey in the following spring. I did 
most of the carpenter work, making sledges, ski, and 
other articles. Among the others, Lieutenant Peary 
particularly excelled in the high art of cutting clothes, and 
most of our skin garments were made after his patterns. 
Dr. Cook performed quite respectable work as a tanner, 
and Mr. Gibson was equally successful in the line of shoe- 
making. After a time we became so proficient in these 
occupations that we jokingly expressed to each other our 
doubts whether we had ever been doing anything else in 
this life but tan, sew, or cut patterns for the peculiar fash- 
ion of clothes which we wore. 

On Saturdays we began the day by sweeping the long 
stovepipe. This was such a difficult task that all of the 
male members of the expedition were obliged to help ; 
and when it was finished, if one were to judge by the color 



WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 331 

of our faces, he could have easily imagined that we were 
members of a negro settlement in the dark continent. 
But to make up for this discomfort we had, every Satur- 
day evening, a warm bath in an old petroleum barrel. 
The bath could be had with or without assistance, as the 
bather preferred. If he wanted it, the help of two or 
three obliging Eskimos, who used soap and scrubbing 
brush with considerable energy, was freely given. 

On Sundays we walked about in our more or less worn 
civilized attire, and, considering the circumstances, ap- 
peared to be a rather fine looking set ; but on Monday 
morning we were content to put aside all regards to 
vanity and cheerfully don cur skin clothes again. 

The clothes last named were made of reindeer skin, 
which, in proportion to its weight, is the best material 
known to furnish protection from the cold. The skins 
were prepared in the singular but rather troublesome 
Greenland way of chewing them, after they are dried, in 
order to break the fibres. The sewing was done by the 
Eskimo women before the winter had fairly commenced. 
Skin clothes, like clothes made of other material, wear 
out. They resemble clothes made of other materials also, 
in that they wear more in some places than they do in 
others. This was especially noticeable in respect to the 
trousers. Toward the end of winter we all looked like 
gorillas. Our dignified doctor had attempted to mend 
one of his garments by putting a patch of ice bear skin 
on the most exposed place. The long white hair stick- 
ing out certainly gave him a comical appearance. 

We filled in a good deal of the time during the winter 
in reading old newspapers and magazines, scientific 
works, and books pertaining to Arctic travel, of which we 



332 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

had brought a large supply. Our evenings were largely 
spent in attempting to talk to the Eskimos. We told 
them of the distant countries to the south. They ap- 
peared deeply interested ; but when we asked them if they 
would like to go with us, when the ship came to take us 
to our homes, they replied with great earnestness that 
they would never leave their country of rocks and ice. 
They often sang and danced for us. That is, one man 
or woman, at a time,, would go out on the floor and make 
the most hideous faces and movements, singing more or 
less improvised songs of a mystic character, which we 
could not understand, and beating a drum as an accom- 
paniment. The other Eskimos and ourselves, all but the 
negro, stood around the dancer in a circle. The negro 
sat away back, on the edge of his berth, and played hymn- 
tunes on an accordion which was sadly out of tune, as a 
kind of protest against this display of heathenism. 

Nearly every day during the winter we received new 
visits from Eskimos. This was especially noticeable 
when we had a full moon. Then they would fairly come 
in droves. On these occasions some of them would build 
their characteristic cupola formed snow-huts immediately 
upon their arrival, and v/ould settle down there to live ; 
while others, who intended to stay only a short time, were 
usually allowed to sleep on the floor of our house, where 
they often could be seen packed as closely as sardines. 
One can easily imagine that at first this was decidedly 
disagreeable particularly to our sense of smell ; but such is 
the modifying effect of habit that the atmosphere, which 
had seemed almost suffocating, by degrees became endur- 
able, and at length caused us no trouble whatever. By 
this intimate association with the natives, we soon 



WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 333 

learned their characters, and obtained considerable prac- 
tical knowledge of their difficult language. 

Of course, Christmas must be celebrated, even though 
we could not have balls and sleigh rides ; so on Christmas 
Eve we had a large dinner party. About six o'clock we 
sat down to the table with solemn air but cheerful hearts. 
We wore our finest raiment, but with most of us this 
consisted of a funny mixture of stylish and improvised 
clothes. We attacked the menu in a resolute manner, 
and stopped only when we could hold no more. Then 
we gave room to our friends, the Eskimos. We had 
several visitors just then, and we were resolved to serve 
them at our table in a civilized manner. Having never 
before used knives and forks, they were decidedly awk- 
ward in their efforts to eat as white men do. It was 
quite amusing to see how carefully they put the food in 
their mouths for fear of hurting their cheeks with the 
tines of the fork ; and they seemed to enjoy the situation 
as well as we did. Later in the evening some of the 
members of the expedition secretly put on masks. I 
shall never fors^et the scene that followed. Old women 
and children alike screamed with fright, and even the 
bravest of the men disappeared with remarkable alertness 
through the door. This closed the festivities of the 
evening. It was late in the forenoon of the next day 
before we could induce the good people to enter our 
house again. When we explained to them the mystery 
of the great change in the appearance of our faces on 
the previous evening, and showed them the masks, they 
were filled with admiration, and had much enjoyment 
with the toys which had previously filled their minds 
w^ith alarm. 



334 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

Between Christmas and New Year it snowed almost 
incessantly. During the winter there was a snowfall of 
a little more than twenty-three feet. The northern lights 
were not very brilliant. Our chief consolation during the 
long winter night was the moon. This luminary, when 
it appeared, stayed with us uninterruptedly for six or 
seven days, and spread such a lustre over the vast waste 
of ice that w^e could easily imagine ourselves in the land 
of fairy tales, where everything is made of shining silver. 

Late in January we began to see a faint light to the 
south, and not long afterward we noticed a brief day. On 
February 13 we rejoiced to see the returning sun, that had 
been absent one hundred and ten days. Our dark winter 
night had passed more quickly and more agreeably than 
we had expected, but we were glad that it was over. 
Upon myself its principal effect had been to give me a 
strong feelino^ of cosiness and comfort when I came in- 
doors from the cold and unceasing darkness outside. 
After the return of the sun the air became milder day 
by day. During the whole of January and February the 
temperature averaged minus 40° Celsius. The lowest tem- 
perature noted in the entire winter was minus 47^° Celsius. 

About the middle of February we were surprised by 
a very marked and interesting change in the weather. 
There was a storm from the southeast, and the mercury 
suddenly rose t© 5°, with a heavy rain. This was be- 
tween 77° and 78° N. latitude, and in the coldest month 
of the year. A few days later the cold was as severe as 
it had been during most of the season. 

March and April were busy months for us all. The 
work on our equipment was pushed rapidly forward. We 
also made some hunting expeditions, and spent seven days 



WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 335 

in a sleigh trip around Inglefield Gulf. By the end of the 
latter month we had completed everything needed for 
travelling over the inland ice. We had also obtained, by 
barter with the Eskimos, twenty of their strongest dogs. 

Of the equipment I will mention ski, sledges, Canadian 
snow-shoes, and sleeping-bags made of reindeer skins. 
We found afterward that the sleeping-bags were not 




peary's house and tent 



necessary, as our clothes proved warm enough to sleep 
in, and the bags were left on our way. On account of its 
heavy weight we could not carry a tent. When we 
wanted to sleep, in fair weather we simply laid down on 
the snow, sheltered by a sledge ; if it stormed we crept 
under an oilcloth. All of our cooking was done by 
the aid of a spirit lamp. Pemmican, dried and ground 



33^ 



ACJ?OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



meat mixed with fat, was our principal food during the 
whole journey, but we also had some shipsbread, a little 
rancid butter, Knor's pea flour, condensed milk, chocolate, 
and meat powder. 

On April 30 we transferred provisions, sledges, and 
other equipments from our winter quarters to McCormick 
Bay, and afterward to the border of the inland ice. It was 




ICEBERG OFF CAPE CLEVELAND, MCCORMICK BAY 

exceedingly hard work ; and as our course took us through 
deep drifts of snow and over steep heaps of stones, it was 
necessary to make the loads very small. When this work 
was accomplished everything was in readiness; and the 
small party, consisting of Lieutenant Peary, Gibson, Dr. 
Cook, and myself, set out with hope and confidence that 
in due time we should reach our distant destination. 



WINTER QUARTERS AND PREPARATIONS 337 

After marching for several days we encountered a furi- 
ous snow-storm, which compelled us to halt. We built 
a snow hut (Eskimo igloo), in which we took shelter. 
The storm raged for thirty-six hours. When it ceased, 
and we crept out of our narrow quarters, a sad sight met 
our eyes. Our sledges were nearly buried under great 
hills of hard snow, and two of our large tin boxes contain- 
ing shipsbread had been swept by the wind over a preci- 
pice, where we could not recover them. Ten of our dogs, 
always restless in a snow-storm, had gnawed their harness 
and straps in pieces, and were loose, while three of the 
others had been attacked by a disease which the Eskimos 
call poblakto, similar to hydrophobia, and were at the 
point of death. This was extremely discouraging, as there 
was great danger that the other dogs would fall victims 
to the malady, in which case it would be impossible for 
us to proceed. During the long storm the dogs had be- 
come very hungry, and those that had freed themselves 
from their straps had devoured everything eatable that 
was not buried under the snow. Fortunately our provi- 
sions were packed in hermetically closed tin cans, which 
proved impervious to the teeth of the dogs. The catch- 
ing of the loose dogs, which were not yet well acquainted 
with their new masters, was a difficult task that not only 
severely tested our patience, but also caused our spirits to 
sink to zero. 

The usual method of catching one of these dogs is to 
entice him to come near you by throwing small pieces of 
pemmican on the snow. In a favorable moment you seize 
him by the neck with a firm grip. You then press his 
head into the snow and hold him in this position until 
some one else can harness him. If one is well practised 



338 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



in this work he can, as a rule, do it without getting bitten 
more than two or three times. In two cases we had to 
lasso the dog doubly, each man clinging tightly to his rope 
and a third man holding the animal down in order to 
make it possible for a fourth person to put on a new har- 
ness or repair the old one. 




SEPARATION OF ICE FLOES 



CHAPTER XIX 

ACROSS THE ICE CAP 

The following days we had slow and tedious work 
climbing the steep hills; but after May 14 we found the 
inland ice slowly sloping up toward the northeast and 
shining with an intense brightness in the light of the sun. 
We then began regularly to travel at night, when the 
reflection of the sun on the snow was less annoying. 
The much warmer day was sacrificed to the gods of sleep 
and to the art of preparing tea and pea soup. We 
had reached an elevation of three thousand five hundred 
feet above the sea level. Four of our doQ-s had died of 
poblakto, so we only had sixteen of the animals with 
which we had started. We therefore left some damaged 
sledges and all the articles we could possibly do without. 
Even then our outfit weighed about one thousand eight 
hundred pounds. 

On May 17 we reached the highest point between 
Inglefield Gulf and Kane Basin. Before us, sloping 
toward the north and northeast, but so little as to be 
hardly noticeable, lay the inland ice. I had often told my 
companions that this was the Norwegian Independence 
Day, and they desired to observe it in some manner that 
should distinguish it from ordinary days. Dr. Cook, 
who had the gift of making something good out of very 
poor materials, proposed, after we had made our camp in 
the morning, to make a fire out of a broken ski and cook 



340 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



a meal that would make our mouths water. He carried 
out his part of the programme to perfection. We had 
hardly ever eaten a meal with greater relish than we did 
the one on that morning of May 1 7. The principal dish 
was of the doctor's ow^n invention. The recipe from 
which it was made is as follows: To one litre of warm 
pea-soup, add some pieces of pemmican. If the pem- 
mican is frozen hard, chop it into small pieces with an 
axe. This will cause it to melt more readily. Stir the 





PEARY AND HIS CO.MPAXIOXS 



whole over a fire, using pemmican enough to make the 
mixture quite thick. It is a ver}^ palatable dish, and, if 
not eaten in too large quantities, is easily digested. 

On May 18 and 19 we made good progress, covering a 
distance of about twenty-two miles each day. On May 20 
we encountered a snow-storm from the southeast, and were 
obliged to make our camp much earlier than usual. As 
soon as we halted, we commenced making a snow hut. 




THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



342 ACJ^OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

Here we were snow-bound for two days. Had we 
known that two and a half months would pass before we 
should again be under a roof, we probably should have 
accepted this detention with much less dissatisfaction. 

We were not able to resume our journey until Sunday, 
May 2 2. When we had removed the snow with which 
our sledges were covered we found, to our great disap- 
pointment, that the only luxury among our stores — ten 
packages of fruit preserves — had disappeared. The ex- 
planation was easy. The dogs had gotten loose, visited 
the sledges, and eaten what they found. But the pre- 
serves did not agree with their stomachs, and the poor 
animals suffered severely for their pilfering. 

During the next two days we covered a distance of 
about forty-four miles, although we used neither ski nor 
snow-shoes. On the morning of May 24 we were east of 
the Humboldt Glacier, and about one hundred and thirty 
miles from McCormick Bay. After finishing our meal 
Lieutenant Peary informed us that, according to the plan 
which had been laid out, the time had come for our little 
company to separate. Two of its members must return 
to Redcliffe House (our winter quarters) and the other 
two continue the work of exploration. The object of the 
latter party would be to determine how far north the 
Greenland continent extends. It would require a long 
journey and involve great difficulties. Rapid travelling 
would be necessary, and the carrying of a sufficient quan- 
tity of provisions to last for quite a period would be indis- 
pensable. If conditions are favorable a dog can draw, on 
the inland ice, a load of about one hundred and twenty- 
five pounds, and requires only about one pound of pemmi- 
can per day ior food. It was therefore desirable that the 



acjROSs the ice cap 



343 



party proceeding north should have a small number of 
people and a relatively large number of dogs. This 
would admit of the carrying of provisions for a longer 
period than would otherwise be possible, and would also 
afford the means of taking along a larger number of 
scientific instruments. 

Lieutenant Peary now inquired who would be willing 
to accompany him farther north. We each and all volun- 
teered. He selected me for his companion, and before we 
returned I accomplished the end I had wished for on the 
day that I offered my services to the expedition in Phila- 
delphia. 

We now camped together for the last time. After our 
sleep w^e made preparations, in the afternoon, to part. 
Gibson and the doctor took one of the smaller sledges, 
two of the dogs, and provisions for twelve days. Lieuten- 
ant Peary and myself took the remaining sixteen dogs 
and the other sledges. The latter we tied one behind 
another with ropes. Our entire load weighed about 
twelve hundred pounds. 

When our two parties were ready to move we shook 
hands, the whips cracked, and we got under way. Gibson 
and Dr. Cook went toward the south, with Redcliffe 
House as their destination ; Peary and m3^self proceeded 
to the northeast toward the distant and unknown point at 
the North Cape of Greenland. There was deep solemnity 
at this parting, and none of us will ever forget the time 
when, in the midnight hour, we lost sight of each other in 
the middle of a lonely desert of snow. From this point 
the success or failure of the expedition depended wholly 
upon the fate of only two men. 

That night we covered a distance of not quite four 



344 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

miles, and we made our first camp alone early in the 
morning. The next night one of the large sledges broke ; 
and as considerable time was occupied in repairing it, we 
did not make much progress. We had now reached a 
place where the snow was loose and deep, and during the 
three following nights we were able to proceed only a 
short distance. 

On May 28 we shot one of our dogs. The weight of 
our provisions had diminished so much that a smaller 
number of animals was needed to draw the load. By 
killing one of the dogs we could not only save the provi- 
sions he would have eaten, but we could also use his flesh 
as food for the others. In time we acquired considerable 
facility in skinning and cutting up dogs, but it was the 
most unpleasant work we had on the inland ice. It made 
our hearts ache to kill the creatures that had been so 
faithful to us. At first there were but few of the dogs 
that had an appetite for the flesh of their fallen comrades ; 
but later, when provisions became scarce and they suf- 
fered from hunger, the survivors all ate it readily. 

Three nights of marching brought us within sight of 
Petermann Fjord. In the background we could see, 
through the clear air, to Hall Basin, a good deal south of 
latitude 81°. After this there were so many deep cre- 
vasses in the ice that we were obliged to turn more 
toward the east than our course had thus far been di- 
rected. On the 3d of June we had to kill another dog. 
This left us fourteen. 

For a few days we made rapid progress. Then we 
again caught sight of the mountains on the coast.^ Dur- 
ing a week of marching on the ice we had made our way 
into a trap from which it took us several days to escape. 



ACJ^OSS THE ICE CAP 345 

On the 9th and loth of June there was a snow-storm 
which compelled us to halt. We spent the time under an 
oilcloth cover, an improvised sleeping-saloon that was not 
tight enough to give us the most perfect protection. 

When the storm was over we resumed our march, but 
had not been moving more than a half hour when we 
were cut off from our course by large crevasses. We now 
saw that we had come too near the coast and were going 
down a slope that would lead us to a dangerous locality. 
It was evident that we must again climb up to the inland 
ice. This required two days of hard work to accomplish. 
Our best dog sprained a leg, lagged behind, and was lost. 
We also lost an excellent telescope down a crevasse. . 

The time that followed was somewhat monotonous, yet 
was full of interest to explorei's. On account of the 
numerous crevasses our progress was slow ; but when on 
June 26 we reached a height of 6,000 feet, this difficulty 
was over, and our spirits were perceptibly raised. Though 
I can assure you that he is not at all of a musical turn, I 
could off and on hear Peary sing, while I sang Norwegian 
songs as well as I knew how. At these unusual sounds 
the dogs turned their heads, and the intelligent look in 
their eyes indicated that they were trying to assure them- 
selves that they had human beings for companions. 

After reaching the elevation noted, we were obliged for 
four nights to go in a southeasterly direction, as our direct 
progress was checked by a fjord, Victoria Inlet, that 
seemed to have no end. At last, in the night between 
July I and 2, we found that it was a canal which sepa- 
rated the rocks to the north from the real continent of 
Greenland. We were then at a height of 5,000 feet, 
and could see below the end of the inland ice. Nearer 



\\G 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 





and nearer we 
approached 
' the dark mo- 
raine until at 
^jiy last the memo- 
rable moment 
arrived when 
we set foot on snow-free land 
after two months of continuous ski 
and snow-shoe running. 

It was nearly midnight when 
we reached the moraine. A cou- 
ple of snow-sparrows chirped us a 
greeting of welcome, and we heard 
the pleasant rippling of a fountain 
among the large stones that every- 
where covered the ground. We 
did not need coaxing to throw our- 
selves upon the ground and drink 
freely of the refreshing stream. 
Life had never seemed more beautiful than it did at this 
moment. 

Peary at once started on a tour of discovery, and soon 
found something that quickened the hunting blood in our 
veins. This was a fresh track of musk oxen. We cer- 
tainly did not forget to take a rifle and some cartridges 
with us when, on the next morning, July 3, we started on 
a tour with provisions sufficient to last four days. We 
also carried thermometers, barometers, and photographic 
and cooking apparatus. Slinging our bundles upon our 
backs we were off. Peary led the way, I followed, with 
our seven dogs. Our sledges and the rest of our luggage 
we left behind among: the stones. 



A SPECIMEN OF GREENLAND 
FLORA 



ACBOSS THE ICE CAP 347 

Up and down we went to the coast, over hills and dales, 
through creeks, along rapidly running streams, and beside 
small dark lakes the livelong day before we stopped to 
rest. Everywhere we found numberless small loose and 
sharp stones, which made the march in our thin-soled 
seal-skin kamiks a time of continual suffering. 

During the march w^e collected specimens of several 
minerals and also obtained a number of red, yellow, and 
white flowers that enlivened the otherwise dreary scene. 
Several times we found tracks of musk oxen, but none 
of the animals were in sight. In the evening, after our 
march of twelve hours, we were sore-footed and fagged out, 
but we had hardly eaten our plain supper of pemmican 
and shipsbread before we fell into a sweet sleep lying 
among the stones. 

The next day brought glad surprises and proved a 
great festival for us. In the morning, about an hour 
after resuming our journey, we came to a rock about 
4,000 feet high. From this point, far away to the north- 
east, we saw the ocean covered with a shining layer of 
white. We had reached the east coast, but we only had a 
glimpse of what we desired to see in broad expanse. For 
two hours we pressed on, but then there was an abrupt 
ending of our marching for the day. Right before us, 
and but little more than a half mile away, we caught sight 
of something that attracted our attention and caused each 
of us to utter an exclamation of glad surprise. Two musk 
oxen were moving over the stones. We quickly agreed, 
by means of signs, that Peary should follow them with the 
rifle, while I should conceal our seven dogs, in order that 
they might not scent the game, which we greatly desired 
to secure. When the dogs were attended to, I waited and 



348 ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

listened with great anxiety. Soon I heard three sharp 
reports of the rifle, by which my excitement was made 
still more intense. At length the tall form of Peary came 
into view on the slope above me. He nodded, gesticu- 
lated, and laughed. By this I knew what had occurred. 
We were to have a supply of fresh meat ! In a few jumps 
I cleared the hill. The dogs kept me company, and 
double-quick time was made to the place where the ani- 
mals lay. There were two cows and two calves. Three 
of them Peary had killed. The smallest of the group, a 
young long-legged calf, was alive and was calling faintly 
to its dead mother for jDrotection. 

After securing our dogs to some large stones we ap- 
proached our game. The grown animals were as large as 
cows two years old. They were covered with long black 
hair that, when they stood upright, nearly touched the 
ground. The heads were disproportionately large, the 
horns were thick and curved, and the faces were half 
hidden by long locks resembling manes. Altogether, the 
animals presented a very wild and uncanny appearance. 

We photographed the creatures in different positions, 
and then removed their skins. This took us several 
hours. Upon searching for the calf we found it lying 
dead among the stones. The poor creature had probably 
been killed by fear and excitement. 

It was a matter of course that we should celebrate the 
securing of such splendid game by a banquet for our- 
selves and the dogs. Preparations were commenced at 
once. We began by roasting pieces of the meat over our 
small spirit lamps, but as this took a long time w€ became 
impatient and went to eating it raw. I suppose it was 
because we had been eating pemmican so long that our 



ACROSS THE ICE CAP 349 

appetites for fresh meat were almost insatiable. We ate 
so much that we were really alarmed. For a while we 
could hardly keep awake. Our splendid feast was finished 
with a few cups of tea, to which we added some milk 
obtained from the cows. 

We did not forget or omit to feed the dogs. They 
were greatly excited by the fresh and bloody meat, and 




thoroughly cleaned all the bones of the large animals. It 
was late at night when we all got settled down to sleep. 

The next mornino^ we saw another lot of the musk cattle 
grazing at a little distance from us. There were six ani- 
mals in this herd. It was my turn to use the rifle. We 
did not need the flesh of m'ore than one ; and as I did not 
want to cause unnecessary injury, I decided to try to pick 
out a bull. When I came within shooting distance I 
selected one with enormous horns, similar to the old 
northern drinking horns, that was evidently the leader of 



3SO ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

the band. When I fired he fell, fatally wounded ; the 
others, alarmed at the report, ran a few hundred feet and 
then quietly resumed their grazing. 

I left the animal where it fell and at once returned to 
the camp, in order that we might proceed to a great rock, 
about five miles away, from the top of which we expected 
to obtain a fine view of the surrounding region and take 
some photographs of the coast. As we wished to do this 
and return before nightfall, there was no time to lose. 

We reached the top of the cliff about 9 a. m. A mag- 
nificent view spread out before us — a view that will 
never be forgotten. We were at an elevation of about 
3,800 feet. The rock, to which Peary gave the name of 
Navy Cliff, ended toward the north in a steep wall that 
continued unbroken to the sea. At its foot was a mighty 
bay, widening toward the east and surrounded by high 
and steep walls of rock. How far this bay reached we 
could not determine, as the view was cut off by large 
rocks ; but we considered it probable that it was directly 
connected with Victoria Inlet, and that these two bodies 
of water form a sort of canal that cuts off the land north 
of the 82d parallel of latitude from the real continent of 
Greenland. We firmly believe that here the main body 
of land ends and that all the land to the north is in the 
form of islands. 

We took a number of astronomical observations, and 
then got out our photographic apparatus and sketch- 
books. When we had finished our work we sat down to 
our dinner, Peary brought out a small silver flask con- 
taining whiskey, which he carried for use in case of ill- 
ness. We each took a drink, and Peary christened the 
magnificent body of water we had found Independence 



352 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

Bay, in honor of the Fourth of July, the day upon which 
it had been discovered. We then built a tall beacon of 
stones and placed in its centre a small bottle containing 
a paper upon which was written a short description of our 
trip thus far. Two silk flags which we had brought with 
us were fastened to a bamboo pole, which we placed 
among the stones, and which were soon waving in the 
fresh summer breeze. 

On the 8th of July we commenced our return trip, that 
lasted twenty-seven days. We had reached a height of 
85O00 feet, and were greatly delayed by storms and deep 
loose snow. During the last seven days our average 
distance was thirty-two miles per day, but during this 
period the snow was firmer and the walking was much 
better than it had previously been. During most of the 
trip Peary used Canadian snow-shoes, while I used ski 
exclusively. 

On the 5th of August, as we were nearing our winter 
quarters, the point at which our journey was begun, we 
discovered, at a distance of about two miles, some dark 
spots moving about on the surface of the snow. We 
were soon convinced that they were men, but we could 
only guess who they were or on what errand they were 
engaged. The doctor or Gibson and some Eskimos 
might be out searching for us, but that seemed hardly 
probable. We wondered if they could be members of the 
expedition that was to take us home and who were out 
examining the borders of the inland ice. We even que- 
ried whether the ship that brought them might not at 
that moment be lying in McCormick Bay awaiting our 
return. 

Very soon after we saw these men they caught sight of 



ACROSS THE ICE CAP 353 

us. We thought we could distinguish a faint sound as 
of shouting, and the report of a gun. We answered im- 
mediately with hearty cheers, and I discharged our rifle 
twice. 

Our last surmise in regard to the company proved to 
be correct. As we approached we found that the fore- 
most of the party was Professor Heilprin, of Philadelphia, 
the geologist who had accompanied us on the trip of the 
previous year, and who was leader of this rescue expedi- 
tion. The other members of the party, seven in number, 
were also from Philadelphia. Of these, four were scien- 
tists, one was an engineer, one an artist, and one a jour- 
nalist. They were dressed in modern tourist suits and 
carried shining mountain staffs and ice-axes, but none of 
them had either snow-shoes or ski. As the cold of the 
preceding night had not been severe enough to form a 
frozen crust upon the surface of the deep and moist snow, 
they were obliged to wade in a substance resembling 
powdered sugar, into which they sank to the knees and 
sometimes to the hips. The fact that they had walked 
about five miles in this terrible slush was abundant evi- 
dence of their zeal and perseverance. 

At a distance of about three hundred and twenty-five 
feet we commenced " shooting " at each other with the 
well-known snap-shot kodaks. These little instruments 
with their short cracks gave a kind of warlike appearance 
to our meeting — a Jin de siecle infantry volley, indeed. 

As the parties approached each other a glad hurrah 
sounded through the thin mountain air. Then came the 
most hearty shaking of hands and an enthusiastic greeting 
of the men who had come with the steamer Kite to take 
us back to civilized society. Never to be forgotten ,. was 
23 



354 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

this meeting with fellow-men after seventy-two days of 
loneliness on an almost boundless field of snow. Neither 
can we ever forget the intense interest and deep enjoy- 
ment with which we listened to a recital of the great 
events which had occurred in the inhabited world during 
the year that had passed since we left our homes. 

Slowly we made our way over the snow, but conversa- 
tion did not flag. At length we reached the ship. Our 
great journey was at an end. 

Since leaving the house we had spent more than ninety 
days on the inland ice of Greenland, and had travelled 
about thirteen hundred miles. We had found the exact 
northern extent of the mighty ice cap of this great region, 
and, with a probability bordering on certainty, had defined 
the limits of the Greenland continent to the north. Our 
observations showed that the land rapidly grows narrow 
a little beyond latitude j^^, and very clearly indicated the 
existence of several ice-free islands to the north of the 
mainland. We also obtained a great deal of information 
regarding the meteorology of the region and the height 
of the inland ice. 

With our five faithful dogs we went upon the deck of 
the vessel. Here the friendly sailors joyfully gave us 
their hands and warmly congratulated us upon the suc- 
cess of our exploring tour and our safe return. I hardly 
need say that one of the first things we did after reaching 
the vessel was to take a thorough bath and put on clean 
clothes. Then an accommodating sailor freed us from 
a large quantity of long matted hair. This gave us a 
rather decent appearance, and we gathered around the 
table for dinner, where we spent abundant time and did 
full justice to the meal. 



ACROSS THE ICE CAP 355 

Two days later we had all of our things on board, and 
the Kiie steamed down the bay to our winter quarters. 
There we were cordially welcomed by the other members 
of the expedition, — the doctor, Gibson, Verhoeff, and 
Peary's man Matt, all of whom met us at the shore. Be- 
hind them stood a number of our native friends, who long 
ago had given up all hope of our ever returning from the 
great mountains, " Sormoksuak." Their faces were beam- 
ing with joy, and the men listened in breathless excite- 
ment when, a little later, I gave them a description of our 
meeting with musk oxen on the eastern coast. Many 
were the questions that I had to answer ; and with their 
usual desire for exact information, they were not satisfied 
until I had given them upon paper a careful drawing of 
our route over the inland ice and of the coasts beyond. 

Before we sailed for home a sad misfortune overtook 
us. This was the loss of our mineralogist and meteoro- 
logical observer, Mr. Verhoeff, who perished while on an 
excursion which he undertook alone. He had intended 
to be away for two days. As he did not return at the end 
of that time we began to feel anxious in regard to him, 
and on the evening of the third day commenced a diligent 
search. For seven days and nights we continued our 
efforts ; but with the exception of some footprints on the 
snow, not the slightest trace of our missing companion 
could be found, and we were forced to the belief that 
further work in this direction would be without avail. 
The general opinion was that our unfortunate friend had 
fallen into one of the many deep crevasses which make 
travelling extremely perilous in the region which he at- 
tempted to explore. 

On the 24th of August the Kite slowly steamed out of 



356 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



McCormick Bay and away from our small winter quarters, 
where we had spent many happy hours. It was with 
mingled feelings of joy and sorrow that among hundreds 
of icebergs we at last lost sight of our little house. Four 
weeks later, after having sojourned for fourteen months 
among desert ice fields, we found ourselves once more in 
a civilized land. 




PEARY AND ASTRUP HOISTING FLAGS ON NAVY CLIFF 



CHAPTER XX 

THE SECOND PEARY EXPEDITION 

Scarcely nine months had passed after our return 
before the energetic leader of our party was again on 
his way north at the head of another Arctic expedition. 

This expedition left New York on the sealer Falcon 
July 2, 1893. It was much more fully equipped than the 
previous expedition had been. Among the novelties were 
eight Mexican mules, which were said to be of a remark- 
ably strong and hardy breed, and which were taken for 
the purpose of transporting provisions from our winter 
quarters up to the border of the inland ice. We also took 
along a pigeon-house containing a large number of carrier 
pigeons. It was Peary's intention to use these birds, while 
travelling in the interior of Greenland, to carry messages 
to the winter quarters of the expedition, but they did not 
prove to be well adapted to this kind of service. 

In addition to the usual number and kind of boats, we 
were provided with a launch fitted with a petroleum 
engine that we expected would be of great service in 
short excursions for hunting and in making surveys near 
our winter quarters. This, too, proved a disappointment, 
as the boat was too light, and the engine did not give 
sufficient power. Peary had hoped, after the long winter 
set in, to use this engine in the house in connection with 
a dynamo which we had taken along to furnish us with 
electric lights. 



358 



ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 




YOUNG ESKIMO GIRLS AND NATIVE HUT AT GODHAVN 



When we left America our party numbered fourteen 
members. This number was later increased to fifteen, as 
Mrs. Peary, who accompanied her husband in this as well 
as in his previous expedition to the Arctic regions, in the 
autumn gave birth to a daughter, who lived and was well 
and strong when the voyage to the civilized world was 
made. Mrs. Cross, an elderly woman, also went with us 
to serve as cook, and, when needed, in the capacity of 
nurse. On the return voyage in the Falcon the following 
autumn, she was taken ill, and she lived but a short time 
after the ship arrived at Philadelphia. 

The other members of the expedition were as follows : 
Mr. Entrikin, engineer ; Dr. Vincent, physician ; Mr. 
Baldwin, meteorologist ; Mr. Clark, zoologist ; Mr. Swain, 
secretary and stenographer ; Messrs. Lee, Davidson, Carr, 
and myself. Then, without being really a member of the 



360 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

expedition, Mr. Stokes, an artist, went with us for the pur- 
pose of painting Arctic scenes. Lastly, there was Matt, 
Peary's colored servant, who had accompanied us on our 
previous voyage. 

On our way northward the Falcon stopped at several 
of the English mission stations on the east coast of Lab- 
rador in order to purchase dogs from the Eskimos. We 
obtained about twenty, and then set our course directly 
for Greenland. On July 26 we sighted the lofty snow- 
covered mountains, and that night we stopped at the 
Danish colony, Holstensborg. Two days later we reached 
Godhavn and then proceeded to Upernavik. 

On July 31 we passed Melville Bay, and on August 3 
the Falcon anchored in Bowdoin Bay, about twenty miles 
east of our first winter quarters. 

We proceeded at once to construct a dwelling. On 
account of having twice as many people, we were obliged 
to build on a larger scale than we had done before. The 
house was made thirty-three feet long and fourteen feet 
wide and was divided into several small rooms. 

On August 20 the Falcon sailed for Newfoundland. In 
the following days the house was finished and Peary chris- 
tened it Anniversary Lodge. 

Meanwhile I was engaged in moving some five thou- 
sand pounds of provisions from the coast to the inland ice. 
In this work I had the assistance of twenty natives. We 
had planned to have the hauling done by mules, but of 
the eight which we had when we left Philadelphia five 
had died and the three that survived proved entirely un- 
fitted for service in the wild region to which we had taken 
them. 

During the months of September and October a good 



362 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

deal of time was spent in hunting, in order that we might 
secure a supply of meat for use in the coming winter. 
We also erected a depot, in which to store provisions, on 
the inland ice. 

Our hunters were very successful. Before the end of 
October they had secured seventy reindeer and twenty 
walrus. The meat of the animals last named was used 
for feeding our dogs during the winter. The autumn was 
unusually mild as far as temperature was concerned, but it 
was rainy and disagreeable. Bowdoin Bay did not freeze 
over till the early part of November. This was a full 
month later than it froze in 189 1. 

On October 26 the sun left us, to be absent from our 
sight for about four months, and the monotonous winter 
life began. Five days later a catastrophe occurred that 
came very near carrying the expedition into utter ruin, 
A mighty iceberg, loosened from the mountain near our 
dwelling, swept down the bay with terrific force, and 
caused a flood that inundated the shore and house and 
carried with it the thirty-two barrels of petroleum upon 
which we were depending for fuel and light during the 
winter. Fortunately only four of the barrels were totally 
lost. The others were recovered with great difficulty 
after quite a proportion of their contents had been lost by 
leakage. From this time we were obliged to be very 
economical in the use of coal oil, and all hope of having 
electric lights had to be abandoned. 

With the opening of winter we began to receive visits 
from our friends, the Eskimos, who helped us faithfully 
and untiringly with whatever work we happened to have 
on hand. The months of November and December were 
largely spent in preparing clothes and equipments for the 



THE SECOND PEARY EXPEDITION 363 

journey in the coming spring. Christmas and New Year 
were celebrated in an appropriate manner. February 
brought the severest cold, minus -^f Celsius. On the 
14th of this month daylight appeared again. During 
the winter more than half of our dogs had died ; but as 
the Eskimos had a large number, we had no difficulty in 
purchasing thirty from them. 

On March 6 the whole equipment was brought up to 
the border of the inland ice, and everything was in readi- 
ness for the long and wearisome journey. 

At this time I was attacked by an illness, probably pro- 
duced by eating pemmican, which made it unadvisable 
for me to attempt to take further part in the work of the 
expedition. I was compelled, very reluctantly, however, 
to give up my long cherished plan, though at Peary's 
request I remained a few days longer at the depot. On 
March 14 I returned to the house, accompanied by Lee, 
who had frozen one of his feet so seriously that he could 
not proceed with the others. About two weeks after our 
return Dr. Vincent also reached the house with Davidson, 
who had frozen one of his heels very badly during the 
terrible equinoctial storm that raged in those regions 
March 22 and 23. During this storm the temperature 
was minus 45° Celsius, a remarkable phenomenon in con- 
nection with such a violent wind as then prevailed. 

After the storm was over it was found that several of 
the doffs had been frozen to death and all of the others 
were more or less injured. This was the last news I 
heard -from the expedition till May i, as I was absent on a 
sledge trip around Melville Bay, which I undertook with 
a friendly native hunter and eight dogs. 

On my return to winter quarters I found that Peary 



3^4 



ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 



and his companions had been compelled to give up the 
journey and had come back from the inland ice. The 
violent storms and the extremely low temperature, minus 
45° Celsius, had greatly diminished the number of dogs. 
Mr. Entrikin had both of his feet frozen, and all the other 
members of the party were in a condition which entirely 
unfitted them to continue the trip. 

There is very little to be said about the remainder of 




the time that we spent in Greenland. We were all 
earnestly longing for the Falcon to come and take us 
home. 

One beautiful evening toward the close of July two na- 
tives brought us word that a ship had arrived. The news 
was received with great joy and hearty cheers. 

The return voyage in the Falcon was quickly and safely 
made, and was without any incident worthy of notice. 

This is all that it seems necessary to say concerning 



THE SECOND PEARY EXPEDITION 365 

the expedition. Lieutenant Peary received a quantity of 
provisions and coal from the Falcon, and remained at 
winter quarters, intending to spend another year in that 
desert region. Lee and Matt, the colored servant, also 
remained with him. 



CHAPTER XXI 

NATIVES AT SMITH SOUND 

Late in the afternoon of July 23, 1891, the Kite was 
slowly nearing land on the south sid-e of Whale Sound. 
From the deck we discovered what appeared to be human 
dwellings. A boat was quickly lowered, and we pulled 
for the shore. The land was considerably elevated, but 
we succeeded, though with some difificulty, in effecting a 
landino^. We then found a collection of tents and earth- 
huts situated in a sheltered position at the foot of a 
mountain. 

There were about a dozen people at this little settle- 
ment. The men promptly came to the shore to meet us, 
but the women and the children cautiously kept in the 
background. Two of us involuntarily held out our hands 
to greet them in the manner of civilized people, but our 
action made a singular impression upon those with whom 
we desired to become acquainted. Instead of shaking 
hands they stared at us with surprised looks upon their 
faces, apparently without the slightest idea of what we 
meant. Soon, however, they seemed to understand that 
we were peaceable people, and that we had no intention 
of injuring them. Then all was changed, and the scene 
which at first had been quite dull became very lively and 
interesting. 

One of our sailors who, during the landing, happened 
to be smoking a short pipe attracted a great deal of 



NATIVES AT SMITH SOUND 367 

attention, and the clouds of smoke that he puffed out at 
intervals made a strong impression upon the natives, who 
evidently thought he was endowed with mystical and 
supernatural gifts. Their astonishment was greatly in- 
creased when, with a quick movement, he lighted a match 
and thus produced still larger clouds of smoke from his 
remarkable " lamp." It was evident that the people be- 
fore us had never come in contact with civilized men, and 
that most of them had never seen a ship. The latter 
appeared to them a wonderful object. 

The natives were not the only ones who were inter- 
ested and surprised. Their appearance made as strong 
an impression upon our minds as we had made upon 
their own. Uncouth, dirty, and with features anything 
but regular, they seemed to belong to an inferior race, 
while their long, shaggy black hair, which hung over their 
skin-clothed shoulders and, in some cases, even over their 
small dark eyes, gave them a singularly sinister and an 
almost terrifying appearance. 

Later on I saw that some of the natives were not so 
negligent in regard to their hair as were those with whom 
we here came in contact. Some of the women, especially 
the younger ones, often had their hair fastened in a sort 
of topknot by a thin seal-skin strap. Sometimes, too, a 
man would be seen having a similar strap around his 
head, in order to keep his eyes free from his long greasy 
locks of hair. These locks, which closely resemble the 
manes of horses, are knotted into solid masses, and make 
nice and warm domiciles for numerous parasites. 

The Eskimo forehead is low, the face broad, and the 
features ugly. The eyes are almond-shaped and small, 
but their power of vision is really wonderful. The nose 



368 ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

is small and broad, the mouth large with thick lips, which 
with the fair sex have no resemblance to the ideal " cherry 
lips " of which so much is said and written by civilized 
people. Probably this is the reason the men do not kiss 
their wives, but instead, if they wish to show especial ten- 
derness, press their flat noses still flatter against the faces 
of the others. As a rule this caress is accompanied by 
an audible sniff. 

Within the protruding lips shine rows of strong teeth 
which are firmly set in heavy muscular jaws, and which 
are used, not only for eating, but also for pulling loads 
and in the various kinds of their daily work. 

The women also understand, as well as their sisters 
living farther south, how to use their mouths. Some- 
times, too, they use them for very practical purposes. As 
a single illustration, I will mention the fact that, after it 
has been stretched and dried, they chew, inch by inch, 
each skin that the men secure in hunting. In this way 
they make the skins so pliable that they can readily be 
made into clothes. 

From the description I have given it will readily be 
seen that, if judged by his face, an Eskimo would not take 
a prize at a beauty show in competition with Europeans. 
The bodies come much nearer our ideal, and the hands 
and feet are of only medium size and are well formed, 
though the appearance of the men's hands is often in- 
jured by numerous cuts and scars. 

In regard to the color of the skin of these people it is 
difficult to form a correct opinion. This, because of the 
dirt with which it is thickly and almost constantly coated. 
When sufficiently clean to show its natural tint it appears 
to be a light brown shaded with yellow or gray. Though 



NATIVES AT SMITH SOUND 369 

it gives them a decidedly unpleasant appearance, the un- 
cleanness of the Eskimos at Smith Sound should not be 
made too much a matter of reproach. It is one of the 
natural and almost inevitable consequences of the hard 
conditions under which they live. 

During nine or ten months of the year all the water 
they have for drinking, cooking, and other purposes is 
obtained by melting snow or ice in stone vessels which 
are held over small flames of blubber. This is not only 
slow and toilsome, but if done to any great extent it also 
requires a larger quantity of blubber than they can well 
provide. Consequently a bath is an unknown and, under 
existing circumstances, an almost impossible luxury. 
Still, if they were anxious to be clean they might do 
something in this direction by means of a wet bird-skin 
or a sharp stone. And I think we awakened some inter- 
est in this respect during our sojourn with them. The 
women, in whom a desire to please seemed as strong as it 
is in their sisters of civilized lands, certainly made some 
attempts to improve their appearance. 

Possibly one reason why these people care so little 
about cleanliness is the fact that it does not appear to be 
essential to health. The air seems to be free, from bac- 
teria, and the severe and long-continued cold evidently 
tends to prevent the diseases which filth is certain to gen- 
erate in warm climates. 

The natives at Smith Sound are isolated from all other 

tribes. In 1892 there were two hundred and thirty-four 

individuals. During the next two years the number of 

births exceeded that of the deaths by nine. 
24 



CHAPTER XXII 

HUNTING 

In order to obtain an intimate knowledge of the Eski- 
mos it is necessary to observe them at their daily occu- 
pations. First of all, you must go hunting with them. 
Autumn has come, and in every day that passes the sun 
draws nearer and nearer to the southern horizon. Ere 
long comes a day when it sends its last golden greeting 
to the desert landscape and disappears from view. In 
a lonely and protected fjord you will see a red-cheeked 
Eskimo, who by jumping over the blocks of ice near the 
land has succeeded in setting foot on the newly frozen 
autumn ice. His face is beaming with joy. Life is offer- 
ing him many attractions. Summer, with its constant 
smiles day and night, had begun to be somewhat monoto- 
nous, and he greets the winter as a dear and welcome 
guest. Now that new ice has formed on the bay he can 
begin the exciting hunt for seals. On the shore in front 
of the low hut stands his young wife, smiling at the 
thought of soon having some fresh seal meat after living 
during the summer upon tough narwhal flesh and the 
auks, which furnish most of the food supplies during that 
season. 

Cautiously the native tries the strength of the ice with 
his seal-spear, and moves farther and farther out upon its 
glassy surface. Smaller and smaller he seems to become, 
until at length he disappears behind an immense iceberg. 



HUNTING 



371 



This is too much for his three faithful dogs to quietly 
bear. Standing on the shore, they have watched, with 
ears erect, and with every indication of intense interest, 
their master on his lonely walk. They now pull impa- 
tiently at the straps with which they are tied to heavy 




WATCHING FOR SEAL 



stones, and their plaintive howls fill the air. They realize 
that the ice is strong enough to bear, and still they are 
left behind. Does their master forget how cheerfully they 
used to draw him on the sledge over the ice ? His appar- 
ent neglect seems more than they can endure. Their 
howls become still louder and more dismal until his wife 
goes up to them and pets them all. Then they lie down 
on the cold rocks and go to sleep. 

Meanwhile the hunter continues his walk upon the ice. 
He moves slowly, and has an air of constant watchfulness. 



372 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

In his right hand he carries a seal-spear and the line 
belonging to it. In his left hand he has a piece of bear- 
skin, and fastened with a strap on his back is a well-worn 
hunting-knife with a handle made from the tooth of a 
walrus. 

Suddenly he stops and bends over the ice. He has dis- 
covered an opening about five inches in diameter. This 
is a breathing-hole of a seal. He now cautiously places 
the small piece of skin on the ice near the hole, and 
quietly sits down to await the appearance of the seal. 
But as a seal often has several of these breathing-holes 
it may be a long time before he will come to the one 
at which the hunter is located. Patiently the hunter sits 
there, hour after hour, like a cat watching a rat-hole, until 
the nose of the seal appears in the small opening. 

This is a critical moment. The opening is small, and 
the spear must be guided with a true aim and sure hand 
or the game will be missed, and the long and weary wait 
will bring no return. If the hunter fails, and there is a 
lack of food at the house, he must either wait again or, 
if he happens to know of other breathing-holes, go as 
quickly as possible to the one which he thinks the fright- 
ened seal will be the most likely to visit. 

If he hits the seal he finds that the opening, which was 
made only for its nose, is much too small to allow the 
body of the animal to come through. He therefore at 
once sets to work to enlarge the spot. This work is done 
with the hunting-knife, which is used with wonderful dex- 
terity. If, when it is pulled upon the ice, the seal is not 
dead, it is killed with the knife, but with a bone needle 
the hunter soon sews up the wound, in order to prevent as 
far as possible the loss of blood. 



HUNTING 



373 



Then, with his heart filled with joy, the native returns 
to the shore to get the dogs and sledge with which to 
take the game home. He could, without much difficulty, 
pull the seal along over the snow-free ice, but the desire 
to enjoy the first sledge-ride of the season is too strong to 
be resisted. 

He is soon with his dogs. They greet him with deaf- 
ening barks as he approaches the shore. They are 
quickly loosened and everything is made ready for the 
trip. With a practised hand the master swings the short 
whip handle, to which a lash about seventeen feet in 
length is attached, and the team carefully picks its way 
over the rough stones. When the clear ice is reached it 
strikes into a full gallop. No reins are used in guiding 




SLEDGE FROM SMITH SOUND 



this wild team. Only the whip is needed for their con- 
trol. When the driver beats on the ice to the left of the 
animals they go to the right, and when he strikes the ice 
on the other side they move to the left. If he wants to 
hurry one of the dogs he knows how to touch a tender 
spot, but he is usually careful not to be too severe. 

The seal is soon reached and placed upon the sledge. 
On the way home the hunter may make a detour to some 



374 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

tongue of land where he has a fox-trap which he wishes 
to examine and see if it is in order for the coming winter. 
These traps are made of flat stones of about uniform size, 
and placed in a rectangular position. A large flat stone 
is so arranged that when a fox pulls at a piece of blubber 
that is placed at the farther side of the inclosure it falls 




ESKIMO FOX-TRAP 



and completely closes the opening by which he entered. 
How many foxes are caught in this way I cannot tell, but 
it must be a large number. It requires about eight skins 
to make a coat for a man, and the garments are not very 
durable. 

Formerly the Eskimos made traps in this form, but 
considerably larger, for bears. In 1894 I saw the ruins of 
an immense trap of this description on the now uninhab- 
ited Ellesmere Land. But at present such means are not 
employed. A considerable number of bears are killed in 
these regions every year, but the work is done in a braver 
manner than by catching them in traps. 

The finest place for bear-hunting is south of Cape 
York, on the ice-bound Melville Bay. Out on these vast 



HUNTING 



375 



fields of ice, far from home, the Eskimo has fought many 
a hard battle with the large and powerful Arctic bear. 

To conduct such a battle successfully both courage and 
presence of mind are required. Consequently some of 
the natives are much better adapted for this work than 
are others. At the present time one of the most promi- 
nent hunters in this section is a man named Akpallia. 
When we saw him in 1891 he called himself Nordingjer, 
but two years later we found that, without applying to 




BEAR ATTACKING SEAL 



the courts for permission, he had changed his name. I 
could not obtain from him any definite information re- 
garding the reason for this proceeding. Possibly he had 
been bothered with letters intended for another person 



376 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

of the same name. • Well, however the matter may be 
explained, the man is an experienced bear-hunter. He is 
nearly forty years of age, and many a hairy giant has per- 
ished at his hand. Soon after his return from a hunting- 
trip I obtained shelter for the night in his hut. It was 
rumored that for once the bears had the best of the fight, 
and that they had torn one of his arms and also killed 
two of his dogs. After making many inquiries I suc- 
ceeded in obtaining from him an account of his latest 
trip. This, in substance, I will repeat, as it will give the 
reader a pretty good impression as to the general method 
in which bear-hunting is conducted. 

During the month of March Akpallia suddenly felt an 
ardent desire to revisit Melville Bay, his old hunting- 
ground. He promptly repaired his sledge, patched his 
bird-skin shirt (he was a widower and therefore had to do 
this work himself), and gave his dogs a good meal. This 
done he took a long sleep, and in the morning, after 
leaving his children, a boy and two girls, in the care of a 
neighbor, he started on his expedition. Four days later 
he arrived at Cape York, one hundred and twenty-five 
miles distant from his home. Here the bear-hunters have 
their headquarters. There are usually several families 
located at this point, and most of the men are expert 
hunters. 

Akpallia remained for a couple of days among the 
flesh-pots of the Cape York colony. Two of the local 
hunters agreed to accompany him on his intended trip. 
One of these was only a half-grown lad, but he was taken 
along because he was the owner of a genuine gun. This 
he had obtained from the crew of an English w4ialing 
ship in exchange for a large quantity of ivory, and he was 



HUNTING 377 

much elated at securing what he considered a great bar- 
gain. Though at this time he had only powder enough 
for two loads, and had no lead for balls, but was obliged 
to use small stones in their stead, and though by an un- 
fortunate explosion the length of the barrel had been re- 
duced to about twenty inches, the gun was still regarded 
as rather a formidable weapon, and its young owner was 
as highly regarded by his comrades as though he had 
killed a dozen bears. 

At length the three hunters left Cape York. They 
had three sledges and fifteen dogs. For two days their 
search was in vain, but on the morning of the third day 
they found the fresh tracks of bears. 

One who has never seen the Eskimo under similar cir- 
cumstances can form no adequate idea of the intense ex- 
citement into which he is thrown by such an event. The 
dogs, too, show a wonderful degree of interest, holding 
up their heads, erecting their ears, and eagerly gazing 
over the great white field of ice. Their masters talk in 
rapid whispers, stop and listen, run a short distance, then 
stop and look around again, until the observer begins to 
seriously question whether people who act in such an 
apparently ridiculous manner because they have found 
the tracks of a bear can be skilful hunters. But further 
observations will convince him that, notwithstanding such 
childish actions at certain times, they show the most won- 
derful presence of mind when in dangerous situations. 

The tracks discovered by our friends were those of a 
female bear and her two cubs. For a time the hunters 
all followed the same tracks ; but when, after proceeding 
for some distance, they came to the fresh track of a sin- 
gle bear, leading in an entirely different direction, they 



378 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

parted, Akpallia choosing to follow the track last discov- 
ered and to attempt to kill the bear without the aid of his 
companions. 

At length he caught sight of the bear of which he was 
in pursuit. It was lying at the foot of an iceberg, quietly 
sunning itself, but so far away that it appeared like an 
almost shapeless mass. The excitement of the hunter is 
now intense. In a hoarse and muffled voice he exclaims 
to his dogs, " Takkotakko ! takkotakko ! " (look ! look !). 
The dogs at once turn their heads inquiringly toward 
their master as if to ask if he has really discovered some- 
thing. They can only see the monotonous snow-drifts 
and the fields of ice, which stretch in every direction be- 
yond the utmost limit of their vision. Then he con- 
tinues : " Nannuk ! nannuk ! nannuksua ! " (a bear ! a 
bear ! a large bear !). Hardly are these words uttered 
when the dogs become so excited that he cannot restrain 
them. They leave the long circuitous course of the 
track and rush instinctively, and in the wildest haste, 
in the right direction. 

When they are only about a half mile distant from the 
bear, he rises and for a moment stands erect, with head 
and neck stretched out toward the approaching team. In 
this position he becomes visible to the dogs, who now pull 
the sledge over the ice with increasing fury. The bear 
appears to know by intuition the bloodthirsty character of 
the Eskimo and his swift-footed dogs, and with all possible 
speed he flees from the dangerous place. Akpallia jumps 
from the sledge to make it lighter for the dogs, and, hold- 
ing with his hands one of the guiding arms behind, his 
legs dance wildly under him as he follows the frenzied 
animals. 



HUNTING 379 

The bear runs fast, but he cannot go as rapidly as the 
dogs. The distance between them becomes perceptibly- 
shorter. But Akpallia has to jump on the sledge again 
in order to save his strength for the coming struggle. 
He is a rather large man, and his weight considerably 
retards the speed of the dogs, but he knows that bears 
cannot run a long distance and that the hunted animal 
will soon be obliged to slacken his pace. 

At length the team is within about four hundred feet 
of the bear. Then Akpallia bends over and cuts the rope 
that keeps the dogs together. The sledge stops instantly 
and the loosened dogs rush for the enemy with almost 
lightning speed. As soon as the bear perceives that 
flight will be of no avail, he turns and faces his assailants. 

Meanwhile Akpallia has seized his spear from the 
sledge and is hasting to the battle-field. This hardy son 
of the icy desert knows nothing of fear. His two com- 
panions long ago disappeared in the distance. Single- 
handed he is to fight a ferocious beast of prey — a beast 
that with one blow of its paw can easily take his life. 
Intelligence, coolness, strength, courage, endurance, and 
agility will all be required to give him a fair probability 
that the conflict will end to his advantage. 

As soon as Akpallia reaches his prey he grasps his 
spear with both hands, and with all his strength endeavors 
to pierce the bear to its heart. But the animal, turning 
suddenly and unexpectedly, deflects the course of the 
spear, and its point strikes his broad shoulder-blade. In 
a moment the bear breaks the spear with his paw and 
Akpallia is disarmed. Wholly ignoring the barking 
dogs, the wounded animal turns in rage upon the hunter. 
Akpallia takes a few steps in the snow in order to reach 



38o ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

his knife, which he threw down when preparing to make 
an attack with the spear, but his foot shps, he falls, and 
the next instant a forepaw of the bear is resting heavily 
upon the upper part of his left arm. With almost super- 
human efforts he tries to get free, he screams in the face 
of the mighty brute in hope of scaring it away, he strikes 
against its breast with his fist. All in vain ! The claws 
of the bear have penetrated deeply into his flesh, and he 
cannot loosen their hold. 

It is only because the bear has other foes that are dis- 
tracting his attention that he does not do the hunter 
more harm. No sooner do the dogs see the predicament 
in which their master is placed than they make a fero- 
cious but foolhardy attack upon his foe. The two oldest, 
a pair of handsome animals resembling wolves in appear- 
ance, that have been with their master in many a hard- 
fought battle, attack the bear in front, one of them even 
biting the paw that holds the arm of his master in the 
snow. But the bear does not loosen its grip. With a 
quick blow of the other paw it puts one of the dogs out of 
the fight. The situation, which was dangerous before, 
has now become desperate. But it soon grows worse. 
Another bear appears from behind an iceberg near by, a 
second dog has fallen bleeding upon the snow, and 
Akpallia appears to be beyond all hope of deliverance. 

At this critical moment two sledges appear. They are 
coming at full speed around the iceberg, which had long 
kept the bear last noted from view. With these sledges 
are the comrades of the prostrate hunter. Seeing his 
condition, they give terrific yells, which he answers with 
loud calls for help. 

The bear now leaves his victim, joins the other beast. 




Eskimo Knives 




Knife with Ivory Blade and Wooden Handle 



ar— inr 
Ivory Pin, two thirds natural size ■ 





Spear or Lance 




Arrow-Head, one fourth actual size 
DIFFERENT WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS 



382 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

and Akpallia is saved. The dogs from the newly arrived 
sledges are set at liberty, and intercept the bears in their 
flight. After a short but sharp fight, in which the dilapi- 
dated gun plays an important part, the huge beasts are 
slain. Then Akpallia's wounds, which fortunately have 
not caused much loss of blood, are bandaged with long 
strips of dirty and greasy seal-skin, the bears are skinned, 
and as much of the meat as can be carried is loaded upon 
the sledges. 

One of the wounded dogs had died upon the spot. 
The other was still alive, and was taken home on a sledge. 
In due time the hunters reached the colony at Cape York, 
where their adventure, with all of its details, was de- 
scribed to an interested and appreciative audience. 

Similar things often occur in Eskimo bear-hunts. The 
life of the hunter is like a game in which no one can 
refuse to take part. The stakes are high, even life itself; 
clothes and food sufficient to last for only a short time are 
the prizes to be gained. 

The manner in which the natives hunt the walrus in 
these regions also seems to be worthy of description. 

Very early in the spring the families leave their winter 
huts along the coast near Inglefield Gulf to go north 
almost to Cape Alexander, where they temporarily live in 
snow huts. 

Early on some morning when the weather is clear and 
favorable, the men set out for a walrus hunt. There are, 
perhaps, a dozen sledges. Each is drawn by five or six 
dogs and carries two hunters. As a rule it requires a 
drive of two hours to reach a good hunting-place, which 
must be near the open sea. Sledges are left quite a dis- 
tance back of the thin ice, where the hunt takes place. 



HUNTING 383 

The dogs are taken along and play an important part in 
the. affair. The hunters walk about a half mile, or farther 
if necessary, to ice which moves with every step they 
take. They now have to use great care to avoid dan- 
gerous places, and are obliged to continually test the 
strength of the ice with their spears. These implements 
usually have a pointed piece of narwhal tooth tied to one 
end to prevent their slipping on the smooth surface of the 
ice, but a few are fitted with pieces of iron which their 
owners obtained by barter from white men, by whom they 
are visited only at long intervals. This spear is about 
five feet in length. It is illustrated in the collection of 
weapons and implements, a drawing of which will be 
found on a preceding page. 

It is on the thin wavy ice cover just described that the 
hunt begins. Soon there seems to be a singing and 
cracking in the ice; then there is a break into many 
pieces, and up through the opening thus formed a 
bearded walrus quietly and majestically lifts its large 
head and grinning face. You hear its deep breathing, 
that in the twilight of the forenoon seems to resemble a 
slow snoring, and you see its breath like a cloud of vapor, 
which in the very low temperature that prevails looks as 
Avhite and shining as the steam from the valves of an 
engine. A moment afterward the animal slowly and 
quietly disappears in the deep. The cold waves close 
over the dark head, but even while it is descending you 
hear similar sounds from other places. 

It is usually while the walrus is engaged in breaking 
the thin ice in order to form a breathing-hole that the 
Eskimo rushes to the attack, though sometimes, in spite of 
the cold, one is found that has crept up on the ice where 
it was strong enough to bear its weight. 



384 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

As a rule the native uses only the spear when he 
attacks a walrus. This spear is made in such a way that 
it can be used as a harpoon if desired, and thus saves 
the trouble of carrying two kinds of instruments. As 
the skin of the walrus is exceedingly thick and tough, the 
hunter thrusts the spear into its body with his right 
hand instead of throwing it, and in his left hand holds a 
coiled line that is firmly fastened to it. The spear is 
made in a form that admits of its being pulled from the 
animal, while the harpoon could not be drawn out. 

As soon as the walrus is struck it disappears in the 
water, and the hunter must be alert and active to prevent 
his carrying away the spear and line. He cannot rely 
upon his mere physical strength in such a contest. With 
a strong blow he plants the pike of the spear in the ice, 
and winds the line around it twice. If the pike gives 
way or the ice breaks where it is driven in, the game will 
be lost, and with it also the spear-head and line. It some- 
times occurs that the feet or legs of the hunter become 
entangled in the line, and he is drawn into the water. 
Two hunters from this small tribe have recently perished 
in this way. 

But suppose the ice and spear hold, and all goes well. 
In this case the hunter feels greatly relieved when the 
line slackens. Soon the animal again comes to the sur- 
face. With his knife the hunter quickly makes two holes 
in the ice, draws the line down one of the holes and up 
through the other. Now the spear is free, and every time 
the animal comes to the surface it receives a sharp thrust. 
This is continued until the walrus dies from wounds and 
exhaustion. 

In summer the North Greenland walrus are often seen 




25 



386 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

in companies of considerable size. Then it is not safe to 
disturb them. To attack them in an open boat involves 
considerable danger, and to interfere with them in a kaiak 
would be equivalent to suicide. Of these facts we had a 
practical illustration in August, 1891, when Dr. Cook, 
Gibson, Verhoeff, and myself were taking a boat trip over 
Whale Sound. We saw several herds of walrus sunning 
themselves on floating ice. Upon making an attack we 
were, to our great surprise, immediately surrounded by 
somethingr like a hundred of these monsters, which evi- 

O 

dently were bent upon our destruction. Fortunately we 
were all well armed with rapid-firing magazine rifles, and 
Ekva, an Eskimo who was with us, had a harpoon and a 
spear. But notwithstanding our excellent equipment for 
the battle, it was with great difhculty that we escaped 
from the enraged animals. It was a long and hard fight, 
some of the time at such close quarters that we used our 
oars and boat-hooks to drive off those of the herd that 
were so close as to threaten the instant destruction of our 
craft. How many of the animals we had killed during 
the fight we could not tell, as most of the dead ones were 
drawn under the water by their comrades, who used their 
long tusks for this purpose. With the harpoon lines 
which the native had brought we secured two bodies. 
During such a fight the aim of the walrus is to get his 
tusks over the edge of the boat, by which means it would 
easily be capsized. If he is successful there is little hope 
for the occupants unless there is another boat close by. 
In earlier times many Norwegian walrus hunters lost 
their lives in this manner at Spitzbergen. 

In addition to the method of hunting for seals which 
has already been described, which takes place on the new 



388 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

ice in autumn and early winter, and which is called " mau- 
pok," or waiting hunt, there is another method of securing 
these animals that is of sufficient importance to justify its 
description. This plan is followed in spring and summer, 
when the seals spend much of the time lying upon the 
surface of the sunlit ice. In April the ice, which com- 
menced to form six months before, has reached a thick- 
ness of about five feet. It is therefore only by great 
perseverance and the gradual enlargement of its breath- 
ing-holes, that the small fjord seal can make its way 
through the thick ice in the spring. 

For this kind of a hunt the Eskimo likes to start early 
in the morning, so that he may have plenty of time for 
the work that is before him. To be sure, the sun at 
the end of April is up day and night, and at any hour 
in the twenty-four you may see seals upon the ice. But in 
the daytime the sunshine is stronger, the air is warmer, 
and the seals are more sleepy, and consequently are more 
easily captured than they are at night. 

The native has not been long upon the ice, before with 
his keen vision, he detects some dark spots far away on 
the white expanse. He chooses one of these, and soon 
his swift dogs bring him to within a half mile of his game. 
Here he halts lest the dogs should frighten the seals, caus- 
ing them to plunge into the water and escape. After 
leaving his team the hunter takes his harpoon and goes 
on foot toward his game. 

As he approaches the seals he bends over more and 
more until at last he gets down upon the snow and creeps 
on his hands and knees. He wishes to have the seal 
believe it is not an enemy, but one of his own kind that is 
approaching. If one of the animals looks up the hunter 



HUNTING 389 

at once stops moving along, scrapes in the snow with one 
hand or foot as the seals often do, and imitates the singu- 
lar hissing sound which they make. 

It is very interesting to observe from a point near by 
the seals and their habits and ways. Some will be seen 
resting comfortably on their sides like human beings, 
some lying on their bellies with their heads down on the 






-"s. 

"T^ i 



SHOOTING SEALS 



ice and apparently asleep, and others lying on their backs 
and scratching their round bodies with their short fore- 
paws. Now and then one will quickly raise the upper 
part of its body, stretch its flexible neck, and look ear- 
nestly around, scenting in all directions. 

When the hunter has approached quite near the seals, 
he suddenly rises, takes a few quick jumps to get as close 
to them as possible, and the next moment his harpoon 
flies through the air. One of the animals has been struck 
in the back. They all disappear in the water, but the 
wounded one is soon drawn up on the ice and killed. 



390 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

The hunter now calls his dogs, and they come to him at 
their highest speed. The method of killing seals with 
firearms hardly needs to be described. 

Of the larger animals of the sea that are hunted by the 
Eskimos only the narwhal remains to be mentioned. The 
hunt is now pursued in kaiaks, but until about 1870 the 
natives had nothing of this description, and the hunt- 
inor was done on floatinor {^e. The Eskimos of North 
Greenland, having used them for so short a time, do not 
make as fine kaiaks as their South Greenland brethren, or 
manage them with anything like the same degree of skill. 
In fact, the kaiaks in use at Smith Sound at the time of 
our visit were both clumsy and dangerous. 

The hunters of narwhal keep their kaiaks near together, 
and as soon as one of the party has harpooned an animal 
the remainder hasten to his assistance. When the ani- 
mal has been killed they all join in towing it home. The 
2:ame is then divided accordingr to certain established 
rules. The one who first attacks and wounds an animal, 
be it narwhal, bear, seal, walrus, or reindeer, is always 
regarded as its real slayer, and therefore receives the lion's 
share of the resulting honors and profits. 

The meat of the narwhal is quite tough, but the natives 
consider it both nourishing and palatable. In summer it 
can be obtained in large quantities. The sinews along 
the back are dried and used for thread. They are much 
stronger than are those which are obtained from the rein- 
deer and which also serve the same purpose. 

Among the land animals which the natives of this 
region engage in hunting, the reindeer is by far the most 
important. In former years the hunt in this region did 
not amouat to much. The reindeer were numerous ; but 



HUNTING 



391 



as the bow and arrow formed the only weapon used for 
this purpose, it was difficult to kill them. They were 
hunted, especially in spring and summer, principally for 
sport and with very little regard to the value of their flesh 
and skins. But when the natives obtained rifles, as 




several of them did from the Peary expeditions, and be- 
came acquainted with their use, reindeer meat became a 
common article of diet, and the skin came into very gen- 
eral use as a material for men's clothing. In 1891, when 
we first visited this locality, the natives were using the 
bow and arrow almost exclusively for hunting ; but before 
our departure in 1894 these articles had been pretty gen- 
erally discarded, and it is probable that in the compara- 
tively near future they will be found only in the glass 
cases of ethnographical collections. Then, too, in a short 
time nearly all the reindeer will be destroyed. For such 
natural hunters as the Eskimos the pleasure and excite- 



392 ACROSS NORTHERN- GREENLAND 

ment of the chase are too great to be restrained by any 
considerations of future good. As long as there are 
reindeer to be had, the natives will kill them without any 
regard to their requirements for food or clothing. These 
people are children of the present, who later on will have 
to pay dearly for the use they are making of some of the 
destructive powers which they have obtained from their 
civilized visitors. 

How the reindeer is killed with firearms need not be 
explained, but it may be of interest to note that a skilful 
and patient hunter can approach near enough to shoot it 
with a bow and arrow or even to kill it by throwing a 
stone. 

Hares were formerly caught in large numbers in North 
Greenland by snaring, but now they are shot with rifles. 

It is a singular fact that the ptarmigan has never been 
hunted by the people of this tribe. As its meat is excel- 
lent food, the immunity which it enjoys is probably due to 
some ancient superstition. 

Of the sea-birds, the auk is the only one that plays an 
important part in the domestic economy of the inhabit- 
ants of this region. They are caught with a net which is 
attached to a long pole. 

This hunt is largely engaged in by families who have 
pitched their tents near the mountains where the birds 
make their nests. As these are always along the steepest 
and most inaccessible parts of the coast, the occupation is 
both difficult and dangerous, and serious accidents some- 
times occur. 

A few years ago a man of middle age, and the father of 
a family, lost his life while catching auks at the^ south- 
western point of Saunders Island, called Akpan (Auk 



HUNTING 



393 



Island) by the natives on account of the enormous num- 
ber of auks which are found there. In company with 
Aningana (moon), a half-witted fellow, he had climbed up 
on the cliff, more than 2,000 feet high, that extends the 
full length of the island. When he had reached a point 
from which he could see a large flock of auks directly 
below, he had Aningana lower him down the perpendic- 
ular wall of the cliff, in order that he might reach the 
narrow ledge upon which the birds make their nests. In 
this work the auk hunters use the same lines and straps 




CATCHING AUKS WITH A NET 



as they use in walrus hunting. And, what indicates a 
still less degree of caution, they do not hesitate, no matter 
how dangerous the precipice, to trust their whole weight 
to a single person on top of the mountain. On this occa- 
sion Aningana had only just commenced to lower his com- 



394 ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

rade when his strength gave out, he let go of the Hne, and 
the unfortunate hunter was dashed to pieces on the rocks 
at the foot of the cHff. The place was pointed out to me 
as I passed on a sledge. When I looked up to the great 
mountain wall I could hardly believe that men would run 
such fearful risks in order to secure a few birds or eo^o-s. 

Another time it happened that an Eskimo, while catch- 
ing auks, had one of his legs crushed by a falling rock. 
The poor fellow could not faint, — he knew nothing of 
any such relief, — so he managed as best he could to 
drag himself home. There, by advice of the wise men and 
women of the tribe, his leg was amputated. In a short 
time he was perfectly well ; and he, in common with the 
other members of the colony, had a great deal of amuse- 
ment in connection with his stumpy limb. 

When we consider the kind of instruments used by the 
Eskimos in amputating legs and arms, it is difficult to see 
how their work can be successful. They have dirty 
knives, and for bandages use strips of greasy seal-skin. 
But nature seems to give the best of assistance on such 
occasions, and with but little help from man heals wounds 
and broken bones that with civilized people would require 
the most careful and skilful treatment. 



CHAPTER XXIII 



THE NORTH GREENLAND DOG 



The qualities of hardiness and endurance which are so 
pronounced in the Eskimo of North Greenland are even 
more conspicuous in his faithful dog. In fact, the extent 




A FAVORITE DOG 



to which this animal can endure hardship, exposure, and 
sufferino- is almost inconceivable. 

The North Greenland dogs are of- different colors, but 
the ones most commonly seen are gray, spotted white, 
and black haired. Not infrequently there is a round light 
spot over each eye. Dogs that are entirely white are 



396 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

also found in considerable numbers. The latter can 
hardly be distinguished from the white Arctic wolf that is 
chiefly found on the islands north of the continent of 
America. As a rule the Eskimo dog carries his bushy 
tail neatly curled up on his back, but there are some which 
let it hang down like the wolf. There can hardly be a 
doubt that the species of dogs which the Eskimo now has 
in subjection once lived in the northern temperate and 
Arctic regions and was identical with the present species 
of wolves. It also appears certain that, while its size has 
diminished since it was domesticated, there has not been 
any admixture of foreign blood. 

The close physical resemblance to the wolf which these 
dogs, after a long period of domestication, continue to 
bear is doubtless owing to the fact that they subsist upon 
the same kind of food and have almost as wild a life as 
did their ancestors. They are fed upon raw meat and 
blood, blubber, walrus-skin, and the entrails of all kinds of 
animals that their master kills. Water they have only in 
the short summer, when they can help themselves from 
the streams which flow from among the rocks. In winter, 
even after the most fatiguing work, they must be content 
to quench their thirst as best they may with the snow on 
the ground. 

The dogs are not fed regularly each day, but on an 
average they get something to eat every other day. If 
for a time the colony happens to have an abundance of 
meat, the dogs are allowed to help themselves. But at 
other periods, especially in winter and during long sledge 
journeys, they are sometimes obliged to go without food 
for three or four days. They do not seem to suffer nearly 
as much from these irregularities of feeding as would 



THE NORTH GREENLAND DOG 397 

naturally be expected. Apparently they are able to eat 
enough at a single meal to last them for several days. 
With the exception of the first few weeks after their birth, 
they spend their whole lives under the open sky. Even 
in the severest cold or the most violent storms this expos- 
ure does not often seem to annoy or injure them. 

Notwithstanding the wild and irregular life which he 
leads, the Eskimo dog exhibits many of the traits of the 
more thoroughly domesticated house dog of warmer cli- 
mates. He is affectionate, obedient, and faithful to his 
master. In return the Eskimo cherishes a deep love for 
his dogs, though he seldom manifests this feeling toward 
them by caresses or kindly 
words. On the contrary, 
a stranger seeing him start 
on a sledge journey would 
get the impression that he 
used the whip with far too 
great a degree of severity, 
though he would soon 
learn that the frequent use of the lash is just as necessary 
in managing a team of dogs as is the use of reins and 
whip in driving horses. 

When the dogs pull a sledge they are fastened to the 
front of it by seal-skin straps which diverge from a com- 
mon centre in such a way that the animals can run side 
by side. Although this harness is exceedingly simple, it 
serves its purpose remarkably well. Usually the fleetest 
of the dogs has a little longer strap than any of the others, 
in order that by running just ahead of its companions it 
may encourage them to greater exertions. The leader of 
the team seems to have a clear understanding of the 
honor and responsibility of his position. 




DOG HARNESS 
opening for head, b and c, opening for forelegs 



398 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

The Eskimo dog is not at all lacking in intelligence. 
This fact is clearly indicated by the skilful manner in 
which it perpetrates its frequent thefts. These stealings 
are confined to eatables ; but as this term includes their 
own harness, their master's tent, trousers, kamiks (boots), 
and shirts, the straps on sledges, and many other things 
made of skin, they take a pretty wide range. Such thefts 
would naturally be somewhat trying to the patience, but 
the Eskimos regard them with comparative indifference. 
I have seen an Eskimo wake up and find the hair of his 
reindeer coat all over the outside of his tent and most of 
the garment eaten, but his anger against the dog that had 
done the mischief did not go any farther than to say, 
" Naav ajotupilalek sjo sjo — Sinapadujo — takko ! " or 
something like, " Well, did you ever see such a miserable 
fool ! " Then he would tie the " miserable fool " to the 
stone from which it had broken loose and say no more 
about the affair. In contrast with this I have seen two 
men belonging to a highly civilized race wake up and 
find their fur gloves torn and half eaten on the snow near 
their hut. One chose a well-known method of venting 
his wrath, and cursed until his companions could almost 
smell sulphur in the air. The other, who was too good 
to be profane, caught the dog that he considered the 
culprit and beat it until the whip-handle was broken. In 
the treatment of animals the men of enlightened nations 
would often be put to shame by comparison with the 
kind-hearted Eskimos. 

I once suggested to a native that he should punish his 
dogs for having stolen, from right before her face, the 
last piece of blubber that his wife had in the hut. ^ I shall 
never forget his answer. It was to the effect that the 



THE NORTH GREENLAND DOG 399 

punishment ought to fall upon himself, as he had not had 
food for his dogs for several days. As the dogs do not 
steal when they have enough to eat, it does seem hard to 
punish them for trying to procure food for themselves 
when no one offers to supply them. 

The dogs often eat their reins ; and as these are very 
tough to bite, they are usually swallowed in pieces of 
considerable length. A member of the expedition once 
discovered one of the thirty dogs which we then had 
engaged in eating his bridle. Thinking that he might 
save the small piece that was protruding from the dog's 
mouth, he started to take it away. Great was his sur- 
prise to obtain a strap nearly ten feet in length, which, 
although it had been chewed a good deal, was still fit for 
use. 

When many hungry dogs are together it is necessary 
to keep a close watch over them, even if they are well fas- 
tened, in order to avoid being shamefully plundered. If 
under such circumstances you lie down to sleep, there 
seems to be a sharp competition, especially among the 
smaller female dogs, to see which one can get loose first 
and steal the most. But there are always some dogs, 
especially among the males, that never will condescend to 
attempt to get loose, but which become extremely indig- 
nant when they see their less honest comrades appropriate 
the master's property. They howl and growl uninterrupt- 
edly in a singularly short and noisy way that can never be 
mistaken after it has once been heard. 

In addition to the noise made by the dogs that remain 
tied, there is not infrequently a deafening racket in conse- 
quence of violent fights among the thieves when one or 
another feels that he has not been allowed a fair oppor- 



400 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

tunity to obtain his share of the plunder. This betrays 
their wrong-doing ; and if the sleepy owner will get up and 
attend to them at once, he may prevent any very serious 
damage. But if the dogs are allowed to continue their 
depredations they will not be satisfied with trifles. And 
they seem able to surmount nearly all obstacles. The 
stones of the meat stores they upset with their noses ; 
they open boxes that have been well nailed by attacking 
the weaker places with their teeth ; steel wires they tear 
to pieces ; ropes they gnaw ; and to almost every kind of 
package or material they are as destructive as is many 
a human robber. They only hesitate when they come to 
a barrel of hard-tack. Although they devour boot-soles 
and the entrails of all kinds of animals with great relish, 
they do not stoop so low as to attempt to eat one of the 
hard and dry things that are called shipsbrcad and are 
eaten by men. 

In the civilized world the prolonged howling of a dog 
in what should be the still hours of the night is regarded 
as a certain indication that he is troubled or distressed. 
In North Greenland the case is altogether different. At 
our last winter quarters, where we often had about one 
hundred dogs at a time, we had the plainest proof that 
their howls in the night were caused by joy, and that in 
purpose, at least, they took the j^lace of song in human 
beings. They particularly excelled as chorus singers; and 
when they were unusually happy, as when they had fin- 
ished an excellent meal or had enjoyed a good night's 
rest, they always treated us to a concert. 

To make the whole chorus take part in the concert it 
was only necessary that a single one of the numher sing a 
long "O — au — o — au — o — au — o — au!" But it 



■s- 




26 



402 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

was imperative that this be done by one of the older and 
more dignified members of the party. If one of the 
younger and less prominent ones attempted to start the 
performance, it was generally an utter failure. He emitted 
a few faint howls, but the others did not respond, and with 
a very foolish look upon his face he ceased his efforts to 
provide a musical entertainment. 

To hear a chorus of a half hundred dogs with well- 
trained voices makes a powerful impression even upon 
people who have no ear for music. But to persons of 
musical ability and cultivated taste the performance seems 
so ridiculous that they can hardly refrain from laughing 
in the solemn face of the leader. The entertainment is 
certainly a fine as well as an original " opera comique." 

It is quite amusing to see the Eskimo feed his dogs. 
He cuts the meat in pieces as large as his fist, piles them 
on a board, stands directly in front of the place where the 
animals are tied, and when they have all become quiet, 
with their eyes fixed upon the meat, he can begin the 
feeding. This is the only way in which he is able to con- 
trol them so that the weaker as well as the stronger ones 
can get their share. Piece after piece of the meat is 
thrown by the master and dexterously caught by the dogs 
until all is gone. If all the dogs in the team are old 
acquaintances, and in the habit of being fed together, the 
feeding-time is likely to pass without disturbance ; but if 
there are any strangers among them the whole meal may 
be a violent and continuous conflict. 

The Eskimo dog is naturally very much inclined to 
fight. Good friends actually fight for pleasure. They 
sportively snap a few tufts of hair from each other's skin, 
howl and bark for a while, and the whole thing is over. 



THE NORTH GREENLAND DOG 403 

But it is very different when strange dog teams are care- 
lessly allowed to come within reach of each other. Then 
the fur will not only fly, but the snow between the fighters 
will soon be crimson with their blood. 

Another characteristic of this race of animals is that 
each team of dogs has its own king. He may not be the 
strongest, but he is the most fearless and skilful fighter 
among them, and not one of them dares to oppose his 
tyrannical rule. When two strange lots of these dogs are 
thrown together a very important fight will immediately 
be commenced by the kings of the two teams. At the 
same time there will be a general battle between the 
other dogs of the teams to settle their relative rank for 
the future. When these fights have been finished, and 
not till then, the equilibrium of the little society is fully 
established. But the vanquished king is utterly broken 
in spirit. His tail, formerly carried proudly curled on his 
back, now hangs limp and drooping, and the head that 
was so erect is now held down, while the half-closed eyes 
follow every movement of the victor, who pompously 
stalks around his subjects, and seems almost bursting 
with pride. 

There is a peculiar epidemic disease that every year 
destroys a large number of these dogs, and which the 
natives say has sometimes been so severe as to threaten 
the extinction of the breed. When attacked by this dis- 
ease the dog loses its appetite, becomes cross, sometimes 
will even bite its own master, and at length develops all 
the symptoms of madness in its advanced stage. No one 
certainly knows the cause of the disease, but as it occurs 
only in the severest weather and during the long night of 
the year, it is probable that cold and darkness are the 



404 ACJiOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

principal factors in its production. The foxes also in this 
region are said to be subject to this disease. 

It was only natural that the appearance of the disease, 
of which there were several cases among the dogs at Red- 
cliffe House, caused the members of the expedition a 
great deal of anxiety. Its close resemblance to hydro- 
phobia was a sufficient cause for alarm; but we were 
greatly relieved to find, and to have our observations con- 
firmed by the natives, that the bite of an affected animal 
was not dangerous to man. 

As the success of future polar expeditions may very 
largely depend upon the use of Eskimo dogs, it seems to 
be of great importance to prevent an outbreak of this dis- 
ease. I am convinced that this can be done by having 
electric lights in winter, furnishing the dogs a moderate 
degree of protection during storms and periods of severe 
cold, serving their meat warm instead of frozen, and sup- 
plying them with a sufficient quantity of water to drink. 

In North Greenland the dogs often mate for life. If 
young are expected in the cold season, a bed is prepared 
on one of the side benches in the hut, near the lamps, 
and here the mother remains with her pups until the 
winter is over, though to quench her thirst she is often 
obliged to go out in the cold and darkness to lick the 
snow. Hardly anywhere are pups more kindly treated or 
more dearly loved than they are in the hut of the poor 
Eskimo. The father of the household plays with them 
and names them, the mother sews nice white collars of 
bear-skin for all the dark-haired ones, while the children 
caress and pet them all day long. 

In the spring the pups may be large enough for the 
owner to commence their training. Some fine day he 



THE NORTH GREENLAND DOG 



405 



furnishes each with a small harness and, with some of the 
older animals, takes one or two at a time for a short 
drive. It does not require much time for them to become 
familiar with the meaning of the whip and of the differ- 
ent calls, and when this stage is reached their education 
is completed. 




A GROUP OF PUPS 




ESKIMO BOY 



CHAPTER XXIV 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 



To civilized people the domestic life of the Eskimos, or 
Innuits, by both of which terms the natives at Smith 
Sound are designated, seems very peculiar. 

The winters are spent in low, small huts. These are 
built of stones and moss, and are always near the ocean. 
The usual size of a hut is about thirteen feet in length 
and breadth. The roof is so low that a man of ordinary 
size cannot stand erect under it. Sometimes huts are 
built so close to each other that they are converted into 
one by simply cutting through the separating wall. 

The inside of a hut is reached through a long and nar- 
row entry, also built of stone, which is so low that one is 
obliged to creep when he goes in or out. A small square 
opening in the end wall leads up to the living-room. Di- 
rectly over the entry is a square window, closed with a 
skin, and often almost covered with snow. In its centre 
there is an opening a few inches in diameter, through 
wliich the hoi. and almost suffocating air of the hut 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 407 

escapes as a ray of steam, and which also serves as a 
peep-hole when the inmates hear noises outside. 

The family sleep in the back part of the hut on a 
platform, about twenty inches high, which is made of 
stones and covered with bear or reindeer skins. Benches 
of the same height are also built along the sides of the 
hut. Upon one of these stands a bowl-shaped lamp of 
stone. Directly over it is an oblong cooking-vessel, made 
of the same material, which is hung. by strings from the 
roof. 

The flame of the lamp is sustained by blubber and fine 




AN ESKIMO HOUSE IN WINTER 



peat, and serves to both light and warm the small room. 
If the light goes out another is started by means of 
sparks from flint or ironstone. 

In- the immediate neighborhood of their winter huts 
the natives build stone chambers, about half in and half 
above the ground. Here the house-mother keeps her 



4o8 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

Stores of skins and other valuable materials, and the 
hunter places his winter furs. The stores of meat are a 
little farther from the hut and are covered with a pile of 
stones. 

In the spring, when the days lengthen and the rays of 
the sun begin to spread a little warmth over the landscape, 
the Eskimo leaves his close and dark winter abode, packs 
the seal-skin tent of the family on his sledge, and goes to 
some place not far distant that is free from snow and 
appears to be a desirable location for a summer residence. 
Here he pitches the tent, and the whole family enjoy the 
freer life of the new home. 

As a rule, before leaving their winter huts the Eskimos 
remove the roofs so that the interiors may be thoroughly 
ventilated. They live in tents from the end of April till 
September. Then they return to huts ; but as they are 
fond of change, they sometimes select a different place 
from the one in which the last winter was passed. 

The mother of the household attends to the lamp both 
in the hut and the tent. She is careful to renew the 
blubber beside it when the supply already there is melted, 
and to so adjust the flame that there will be as little 
smoke as possible. She also melts the snow that is used 
for various purposes, and does the cooking for the family. 

That the domestic utensils are not kept in a condition 
that would be considered decent by civilized people is 
not surprising when we remember that the Eskimos 
really have no sense of cleanliness. The large stone pot, 
the flat dishes, the drinking-cups, and the boards upon 
which the food is kept are covered with a thick layer of 
dirt, grease, and dried blood, the odor of which will, until 
he has become accustomed to it, deprive a white man of 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 



409 



his appetite. But after a long day's walk over the rough 
snow-fields, in a low temperature, when the muscles are 
weary, and the whole system cries out for food and water, 
the most dainty son of civilization will be glad to eat of 
the plain and poorly prepared food and drink from the 
greasy cups of the hospitable Eskimos. 

The dishes which the Eskimo housewife offers her 




STONE HUTS OR IGLOOS — TAKEN AT MIDNIGHT 



family and her guests at the different seasons of the year 
are neither numerous nor complicated. Meat of walrus, 
seal, narwhal, bear, reindeer, hares, and auks, with differ- 
ent kinds of blood, forms the foundation of all her cook- 
ing. Spices, salt, or other condiments are entirely un- 
known. Considerable blubber is eaten, but the larger 



4IO ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

part of it is used for furnishing light and heat. As a 
rule, the meat is cooked, but it is sometimes eaten raw, 
especially when it is frozen. When it has been kept long 
enough to reach a condition in which most civilized 
people would consider it spoiled, it is esteemed a great 
delicacy. The liver of several animals and certain en- 
trails of the seal are prized for food, as is also the material 
found in the stomach of the reindeer. The latter consists 
of vegetable matter, but it is so rarely obtained that it can 
almost be said that meat is the exclusive article of diet of 
the North Greenland Eskimos. 

Dog meat is sometimes eaten, but only under excep- 
tional circumstances. Nothing short of the greatest ne- 
cessity will induce a native to kill one of his dogs. Be- 
sides, the dogs are generally very lean and their meat is 
not palatable. The people consider the flesh of pups a 
good article of food, and I think they are capable judges 
in this matter. Once when I was at the Cape York 
colony, and nearly starved, I was given some frozen raw 
meat of a pup that tasted very well. It somewhat resem- 
bled the meat of a bear. This might not be the general 
opinion of the quality of this kind of food, but it is stated 
merely as my personal impression. 

The natives at Smith Sound use nothing but water for 
drinking purposes. When we first offered them tea and 
coffee many of them refused, but after a time they began 
to like these drinks. They also soon learned to like hard- 
tack, which, considering the fact that they are, in the true 
sense of the word, " a breadless people," is not very surpris- 
ing. Of spirits and tobacco they were entirely ignorant, 
and we were careful not to enlighten them. It is remark- 
able that they do not use, or even know of any kind of 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 411 

stimulant. In this respect they are yet in the original 
" state of innocence " which no other people in the world 
appear to have preserved. 

The meals are eaten in a very plain and easy manner. 




CAPE YORK, SMITH SOUND — ESKIMO SLEDS ON THE ICE 



The housewife places the pieces of boiled meat in a vessel, 
from which the members of the family, all of whom are 
very scantily clothed, take them with their hands when 
they want them. In eating, a large piece of meat is taken 
to the mouth with the left hand and cut off close to the 
lips with a sharp knife that is held in the right hand. 

As with civilized people, marriages among the natives 
of this region are contracted for life. As a rule the rela- 
tion of husband and wife continues as long as they both 



412 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

live, though separations sometimes occur. A few years 
ago Agna left her husband, Kaochu, saying that he was 
too old, and went to live with Kala, a middle-aged wid- 
ower. In excuse for this fault of the in many respects 
estimable woman, it can only be said that although her 
husband was not so very old, he really did present a 
superannuated appearance. His walk was unsteady, one 
leg was crooked from rheumatism, his face was full of 
dirty wrinkles, his nose and cheeks had taken on a bluish 
tint from exposure to wind and weather, his eyes were 
edged with a red border, and his hair — his hair — well, 
let us not attempt to carry the description any farther. 
And yet this little lame man is full of fun, and gives his 
neighbors the pleasure of many a laugh. His friends, 
and a daughter who keeps house for him, see that he does 
not suffer from want. 

Polygamy does not exist among these people, possibly 
because the conditions are unfavorable, but husbands and 
wives are not always faithful to each other, and a want of 
fidelity in this respect is not regarded as at all a serious 
matter. The unmarried young people are strictly chaste. 

The position of the married woman is as dignified and 
respected as is that of the man, though in any important 
disagreement she is obliged to submit to the will of her 
husband. 

The relations between parents and children are as 
close and as affectionate as they are in any part of the 
world. When small, the children are rather nice looking, 
but as they grow up their features become much coarser 
and have a less attractive appearance. At birth their 
parents give them names, usually only one, but some- 
times two, for each child. These names are commonly 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 413 

the terms used to designate animals or other famihar ob- 
jects. The children are rarely punished, and as they are 
thoroughly good-natured punishment is seldom needed. 
The youngsters often appear very sweet and cunning, as, 
for instance, when playing in the open air a game cor- 
responding to the " tag " of civilized lands, or when coast- 




INTERIOR OF HUT 



ing on the little sleighs which their kind fathers have 
made for them. Except in the mildest way they never 
quarrel or fight, and they never call each other names or 
use abusive language in any way. In short, they are a 
lot of dirty angels. 

Marriages take place at a very early age. The man 
wishes to marry as soon as he thinks he can support a 
wife, usually when from sixteen to twenty years old, and 
the girls are considered marriageable when they reach 
the age of fourteen years. Love seems to be the foun- 
dation for all marriages. Even if it were preferred, mar- 
rying for money or other worldly goods would not be 
possible. The engagement lasts quite a long time, but 



414 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

there are no ceremonies whatever connected with the 
wedding. The number of children in a family is usually 
three or four. Sometimes, but not often, it reaches five or 
even six. 

When a visitino^ Eskimo arrives from some distant 
colony he does not say " Good day " or " How do you 
do," and the men and women upon whom he is calling do 
not welcome him with words. A bashful smile is all that 
he offers, and the same greeting is returned. Soon one 
of the older Eskimos, in a low voice, makes some remark 
or asks some question, and thus a conversation will be 
slowly started. When the visitor is leaving, he does not 
say " Good-by," but harnesses his dogs to the sledge 
and goes away without saying a word about it. In their 
whole behavior these people show a most absolute inde- 
pendence which will astonish any civilized person who 
comes in contact with them. 

Before starting on a long journey the natives drink as 
much water as possible. This is done as a precaution 
against thirst, which in a fatiguing journey in the ex- 
tremely dry Arctic air is a fearful tprture. 

During the winter night, which lasts nearly four 
months, there is never a lack of sociability. This tends 
to make the time pass more quickly for the people than 
it otherwise would do. The younger families, especially, 
travel around a great deal, visiting their parents, aunts, 
uncles, and other relatives and friends. In many cases 
they spend more time in this way than they do at home. 
Even if for a short time they are at home, they have 
usually made a previous arrangement to entertain some 
guests. 

In December and January the darkness is so intense 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 415 

that travelling can be done only by moonlight. When 
the moon appears, once in four weeks, it remains con- 
stantly visible for about a week, and gives a splendid 
light for the travel-loving Innuits. 

There is happiness shining on the broad faces of the 
natives when in the month of February the sun, after 
the depressing darkness of the winter, begins to give to 
the clouds nearest the horizon a golden coloring. And 
when the sun itself for the first time comes into view the 
joy is unbounded. Old and young, men, women, and 
children, gather on the rocks behind the huts of the 
colony, where the view is unobstructed, and with joyful 
shouts greet the returning king of day. 

The Eskimos at Smith Sound have no definite method 
of computing time or of stating the exact date at which 
any given event occurred. If they want to indicate a cer- 
tain hour of the day, they state the position of the sun 
or the stars in the sky at this time. They have names 
for our four seasons and terms to designate the to them 
important periods of the year, as " the days that we move 
into tents," "the days when the sun leaves us," and various 
other times and events. 

It would naturally be expected that a people situated 
like the Eskimos, compelled to fight a hard battle for a 
mere existence, and who are in almost constant danger of 
finding their food supplies exhausted, and with no certain 
means of replenishing them, would be very serious and 
unhappy. We would suppose that they would regard life 
as an evil which for some reason had been forced upon 
them, and from which death would bring them a welcome 
relief. But with regard to the Eskimos such an opinion 
would be wholly incorrect. To one who lives with them 



4i6 ACHOSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

until he is well acquainted with their ways and under- 
stands their language, their joyful laughter, their amusing 
witticisms, their frequent jokes, and, in fact, their whole 
conduct, will indicate beyond the shadow of a doubt that 
these people are unusually well satisfied with their lot in 
life. 

Upon looking more closely at the matter, this satis- 
f:iction with what seem to be very hard conditions of 
existence will not be as difficult to explain as it at first 
glance appears. In the first place they enjoy excellent 
health. As they advance in years they suffer somewhat 
from rheumatism, but they seldom have any other severe 
illness. Snow-blindness, a slight inflammation of the eyes 
caused by the bright reflection of the sun on the snow, 
frequently attacks the men in the spring, but it does not 
often prove serious in its results. Another and a very 
important reason for their contentment is found in the 
fact that this small Eskimo society is founded upon the 
principle of equal rights and privileges for all of its mem- 
bers. Money is entirely unknown. Love to one's neigh- 
bor is a fundamental law. A society in which liberty, 
equality, and fraternity are not, as in many civilized lands, 
merely a distant and an almost hopeless ideal, but are the 
actual rule of life and conduct, can hardly fail to secure a 
large share of happiness and contentment. 

If one of the hunters is more skilful or has better suc- 
cess than his companions, so that during the summer he 
obtains a larger quantity of meat than will be needed by 
himself and his family in the winter he does not conceal 
the surplus, or attempt to withhold it from the others. 
On the contrary, with pleasure and pride he will distribute 
it among those whose eyes are not as keen or whose arms 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 417 

are not as strong as his own, or who were not as fortunate 
in finding good hunting-grounds. 

If the question were raised whether the expert hunters, 
who secure an adequate quantity of provisions for the 
winter in a comparatively brief time, will not be more 
inclined to spend a part of the summer in idleness than to 
continue the hunt in the interest of others, the answer 
would be that as long as the ambition of these men con- 
tinues as great as it is at present, there is no danger of 
their relaxing their efforts, even if their natural kindness 
of heart is not taken into the account. 

It is a rule among this people that any game which a 
hunter does not take home, but leaves at some convenient 
point, covered with stones for possible future use, can be 
taken by others, if needed, with perfect right, and without 
asking permission of any one. It often happens that 
meat stored in this way by one man is used by others. 
In fact, the tribe forms a single family, and each member, 
without exception, consecrates the work of his life to the 
common good. They have the joys of life, as well as the 
hardships and sufferings, in common. It is seldom that 
this tribe are visited by a real famine ; and though some 
authors have represented them as improvident, my obser- 
vation convinced me that they endeavor to enter the win- 
ter with a full stock of provisions, and that they usually 
succeed in obtaining a liberal supply. 

The members of this tribe manifest a strong affection 
for each other. This, perhaps, is not remarkable when it 
is remembered that the company is comparatively small, 
and having for a long period been isolated from all other 
tribes, the members are related to each other by blood as 
well as by the common ties of humanity. As an instance 
27 



4i8 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

of the general concern for the welfare of the individual I 
well remember how anxious the members of the colony 
appeared at a time when one of the younger hunters 
remained away a day longer than was his usual custom. 

It is extremely seldom that Eskimos quarrel, and when 
a disagreement occurs it is a very tame affair. The par- 
ties do not talk loudly or call each other names, but sim- 
ply separate. They are a quiet and gentle people, and 
very much dislike anything in the way of disturbance or 
discord. 

Judging from the best information we could obtain, it 
seems probable that the natural period of life is about 
sixty years. The debility incident to old age is then fully 
developed, and in many cases is accompanied by an in- 
flammation of the lungs which soon proves fatal. 

The communistic form of their society renders stealing 
from each other impossible. And it must be said of them 
that they are really an honest people. When we first 
went among them they would often take articles from 
the members of the expedition ; but as they had no know- 
ledge of the principle of private ownership of property, 
they could not justly be blamed for doing so. When 
they learned that we disapproved of their course we 
could always rely upon their honesty. Still, it was plain 
to see that they were intelligent enough to perceive the 
injustice of our holding them to a strict account while we 
were taking possession of their land without their permis- 
sion and without compensation, and killing the reindeer 
which would have been useful to them for food. 

The Eskimos rarely told us an untruth. When they 
did so it usually appeared to be in order to fool the white 
people who thought themselves so wise, rather than from 



HOME LIFE, HABITS AND CHARACTER 419 

either malice or habit. They seldom or never lie to each 
other, but it is very hard for them to tell a truth that they 
know will be disagreeable, and they employ all kinds of 
subterfuges to avoid such an unpleasant task. 

Upon the whole, the morals of this interesting tribe 
must be regarded as approaching the standard of Chris- 
tianity. But it is to be remembered that while the people 
of Christian nations are subjected to many and strong 
temptations to violate the principles of religion, the Eski- 
mos live under much simpler conditions, and can far more 
easily avoid transgression. For many of the evils which 
stain civilized society these people have neither motive 
nor opportunity ; and while in various ways they earnestly 
endeavor to follow the right, there are other directions in 
which their virtues are negative rather than positive. 

The good humor of the Eskimos is inexhaustible. 
When a large company is gathered, as occurred several 
times at the house of the Peary expedition, their mirth is 
unbounded. It would be utterly impossible to describe 
the " circus " we had when a party of Eskimos came to the 
house, and for the first time in their lives saw a mule. 
Their mirth was exuberant, but was far from childish, and 
many and witty were their remarks about the long ears 
and the hairless tail of the animal before them. 

One of the leading wits of the tribe was little fat Ekva. 
He would sit for hours in the centre of a little circle and 
keep the audience laughing at his talk and jokes. But he 
did not forget his family. He was always careful to put 
into a dirty seal-skin bag part of the hard-tack that was 
given him and carry it to his little two years' old child 
Annedor when he went home. 

In the Eskimo tribe at Smith Sound there are no chiefs 



420 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

or persons who in any way bear rule over others. Each 
member is his own master, and one never interferes with 
the affairs of another. The older men who have been or 
who still are remarkably skilful hunters seem to receive a 
good deal of respect, and their words have considerable 
influence upon the other members of the colony, but this 
is merely a matter of deference, and not a recognition of 
authority. No greater degree of liberty can be found in 
any part of the world than is enjoyed by the happy people 
of this cold and desolate land. 



CHAPTER XXV 

INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND CUSTOMS 

From the description already given, the reader will 
readily admit that the natives at Smith Sound, like their 
brothers farther south, are really an intelligent people. 
The weapons which they make and the manner in which 
they conduct their hunting expeditions show that they 
are not wanting either in ingenuity or in skill. In re- 
cent years contact with the members of the Peary expedi- 
tion has done much to develop these qualities as well as 
to bring the merits of the tribe to the attention of civil- 
ized people. 

They greatly surprised us by the facility with which 
they learned to use firearms and the skill which they 
exhibited, after practising for only a few hours, in hand- 
ling our whale-boats. 

I think Kolotengva is one of the most gifted men in 
the tribe. He is certainly one of the ablest and most 
efficient of the younger members. He is about twenty- 
fi^ve years of age, with a powerful frame and muscles like 
steel. His eyes are small but bright, and he can clearly 
discern distant objects that are invisible to ordinary 
people. His hair, which is long and black, is quite curly 
and forms a fine frame for his brave-looking face. In 
many ways he reminds me of chiefs of whom I have read 
in Indian tales. No one in the whole tribe was prouder 
than Kolotengva, no one more independent, no one 



422 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

cooler in danger, shrewder in hunting, or more faithful 
in friendship. Tungvingva, his wife, was a red-cheeked, 
smiling child with dark eyes and snow-white teeth. 

This couple had a pastime in which no other members 
of the tribe ever engaged. This was drawing. Some- 
times they made sketches of the ships of the Kablunak 
(white men), sometimes men were represented, at others 
animals, huts, tents, or kaiaks. As I had fortunately 
brought a larger quantity of these things than I needed, 
I kept them supplied with pencils and paper. Many of 
their drawings were very interesting, and all, without a 
single exception, showed that they were keen observers. 

A picture drawn by Kolotengva in my sketch book 
represents a hunting scene. Two hunters, an Eskimo 
with a bow and arrow and a Kablunak with a rifle, are ap- 
proaching two reindeer from different directions. Their 
sledge is waiting at the foot of the mountain upon which 
the hunt is taking place. The Kablunak is shown in 
a somewhat intoxicated condition and as being lightly 
clad, but as a whole the picture is quite instructive. An- 
other picture, drawn from memory by Tungvingva, rep- 
resents the steam sealer Kiie. It was one of her first 
attempts to draw with a pencil, and is quite creditable. 
Still another drawing by Tungvingva represents two 
white men. As they have their hair cut, instead of wear- 
ing it long like the natives, she has simply represented 
them as bald-headed, and has thereby caused the ears to 
stand out rather more prominently from the fine heads 
than their owners would desire. 

Kolotengva was a great admirer of the knowledge and 
inventions of the Kablunak, and was glad to adopt and 
recommend to the tribe any of our customs or methods 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 423 

that could be made of practical use in the conditions 
under which they lived. He was the first to provide him- 
self with pockets in his seal-skin coat. He found them 
a great convenience, and his example was soon followed 
by many of the other 3^oung men. 

Kolotengva had a comrade whom he liked better than 
he did most of the others. This was Kudla. I do not 
know a better description of these two than "hurragut- 
ter." ^ Wherever anything was going on they were inva- 
riably to be found. They were always full of fun, and 
were sure to do something very comical. 

In July, 1894, I was accidentally present when Kolo- 
tengva and Kudla returned from a reindeer hunt. While 
talking with them I noticed that the former's face and 
hands were so thickly covered with mosquito bites as to 
give him the appearance of having had the smallpox, 
while the latter was entirely free from such marks. When 
Kudla perceived that I was going to speak about it he 
forestalled me with the remark, made very seriously and 
with an assumption of superiority, that the mosquitoes 
had troubled little Kolotengva very badly while he was 
asleep at night, but as for himself the insects did not 
dare to attack him. " And why t " continued Kolotengva 
immediately, " because even the mosquitoes refuse the 
miserable stuff that is flowing through your veins." This 
is only a specimen of the satirical fun and repartee of 
which these young fellows were masters. 

If possible a still more pronounced hurrah boy was 
Kaschu. He was about thirty years old and was as lively 
as a cricket. His face, which was broad and round, looked 

■ 1 Hurragutter, literally translated would be "hurrah boys." It is equivalent 
to our terms " one of the boys," " a gay boy," or " a jolly fellow." 



424 ACJ?OSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

as if it had been hastily cut out of a piece of timber by a 
wood-carver. When he was perfectly happy he laughed so 
heartily as to stretch his mouth from ear to ear and shut 
both his eyes. If for any reason he considered himself in 
danger he invariably closed one eye. His physical endur- 
ance was almost unlimited, and it would be extremely dif- 
ficult to find a travelling companion more energetic and at 
the same time more genial. 

Kaschu pitched his tent near the winter quarters of the 
second Peary expedition, and remained there for a long 
time. Every morning, even after it had become very 
cold, he could be seen, without a stitch of clothing, walk- 
ing around and taking his weather observation for the 
day. When the white men had any amusements in pro- 
gress Kaschu never failed to be with us. When we were 
running on ski, on the hills back of the house, he accom- 
panied us, and in time he became quite a skilful ski 
runner, though his appearance was far from elegant. 
When running fast he made the most frightful faces, and 
when at full speed he believed that he was in great peril 
and always closed one of his eyes. 

As I have commenced giving biographical sketches I 
will add a few more of some of the typical members of 
the tribe. 

Among the very old people there were the parents of 
Kaschu, Arodoksua and Migibsungua. As an indication 
that the old man knows something of the laws of health, 
it may be stated that since he ceased hunting he takes 
exercise every forenoon by walking for a long distance on 
the ocean ice, pushing his empty sledge in front of him. 
Recently he has suffered considerably from rheumatism. 
His wife is quite well, and her tongue is active from early 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 425 

in the morning until late at night When strangers are 
present she is almost continually praising her matchless 
son, Kaschu. Her other son, the half-witted Aningana, 
she seldom mentions, but she represents Kaschu as a 
wonderful boy. When she describes him as a fine-look- 
ing fellow, one who is familar with his wooden head, his 
large mouth, and his half-closed eyes can hardly keep 
from laughing. 

Among the most worthy of the married couples of 
the tribe should be named Ingapaddu and Ituschaksui, 
the parents of Tungvingva. They have six children, the 
largest number in one family within the memory of the 
oldest member of the tribe. Ituschaksui is a good mother, 
and looks carefully after the comfort and welfare of her 
family. I have seen her go out on the ice for more than 
a mile to tell two of her younger children, who were play- 
ing there, that it was growing cold and they should have 
some covering on their hands. 

Ituschaksui has two younger brothers, both of whom 
are married. Their names are Aseio and Panikpa. 
Like their sister, they are highly gifted, particularly Aseio, 
whose pale, narrow face and large, thoughtful eyes are the 
outward signs of a clear intellect and quick perceptions. 
He is, however, not very strong, and for this reason his 
wife, Anavi, has often been obliged to perform the kinds 
of work that usually fall to the men. So she has turned 
into somewhat of an Amazon. She can drive a sledge- 
team with suprising dexterity and ply the whip with as 
much strength and persistence as any ordinary man. 

Panikpa is of a rather retiring and philosophical nature. 
He prefers to have his tent or winter hut in a lonely place 
where people do not pass daily, and where he, with his 



426 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

wife and their small children, can enjoy life in a peaceful 
and quiet manner. I have had many long conversations 
with Panikpa, and he always seized the opportunity to 
make inquiries in regard to foreign lands. His faith in 
the Kablunak is very great, and he has a strong desire to 
see their cities, railroads, horses, and many other things of 
which he has learned something from pictures and verbal 
descriptions. It is very doubtful if his wish in this respect 
is ever gratified. But even now his horizon is more 
extended than is that of many a peasant in civilized lands, 
and the nature of his inquiries indicates a very thoughtful 
mind. 

Another prominent member of this tribe is Kayegvitto, 
a smart, good-natured fellow who is taller, and probably is 
also stronger, than any of his comrades. This superiority 
has made him very vain. He seems to have formed the 
opinion that he is really the leading man of the tribe and 
that he ought to be acknowledged as such. He evidently 
gained this idea by observing the conduct of our own 
people. He observed that there was one of our party who 
was treated with great respect and was obeyed by the 
others. Doubtless this awakened a desire on his part to 
act as leader of his companions. His vanity was quite 
conspicuous, as there was no trace of it in any other 
member of the tribe. His comrades treat the matter as 
a sort of a joke, smile, and say something equivalent to 
" Kayegvitto — yes, poor fellow, he is a little off." 

On one occasion this vanity on the part of Kayegvitto 
proved of great benefit to our party. This was about the 
middle of winter, when the second Peary expedition was 
at the north. The supply of food for our large num- 
ber of dogs had become greatly reduced. We had heard 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 427 

that Kayegvitto had a considerable quantity of meat at 
the colony Nachsa, on the south side of Whale Sound. 
It was decided that I should go there and try to obtain a 
supply. I set out and on the following day reached the 
colony while the moon was shining. I was received at 
the shore by all the male inhabitants, prominent among 
whom was .Kayegvitto. No sooner did the latter see 
that it was a Kablunak who had come to pay them a visit 
than he shot into his hut like an arrow, but he soon re- 
turned, clad in an old and well-worn coat that he had 
obtained the previous autumn by trade from one of the 
members of the expedition. This, he appeared to think 
gave him a sufficient degree of dignity to enable him to 
represent his " subjects " in proper manner. 

I at once w^alked up to him, took his hand, and shook 
it very hard. The ceremony of shaking hands is not 
customary among the Eskimos of this tribe, but they had 
learned its meaning, and in this case it appeared very 
flattering to Kayegvitto. I then explained to him my 
errand, telling him that Peary, the great master (nale- 
gaksuak) from the distant land, wanted meat for his hungry 
dogs, and that I had come to ask Kayegvitto, the great 
master of the Innuits, to supply him. I said that Kayeg- 
vitto had a good deal of meat, he was a great hunter, and 
that only he w^as nalegaksuak of the Innuits. The last 
sentence was highly pleasing to the person to whom it 
was addressed. He repeated it several times, and then 
invited me to spend the night at his home, an invitation 
which, of course, was promptly accepted. 

On the following morning a conference was held to 
discuss the matter of giving me the supplies for which I 
had asked. After I had for a couple of times called this 



428 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

heavy, coarsely built man the great master of the Innuits, 
Kayegvitto, with an air of superiority that was indescrib- 
ably ludicrous, ordered his companions to fill my sledge 
with meat. Once in a while he would assist in the work 
by graciously picking out for me the larger pieces of meat. 
The Eskimos who, for the occasion, had voluntarily con- 
descended to be the subjects of Kayegvitto, heartily en- 
joyed the whole affair, and were good-natured enough to 
continue the comedy to the end. 

When the meat was loaded Kayegvitto received a 
suitable present, which apparently he had not expected, 
and I left the great man standing in the moonlight, still 
dressed in his thin coat, although the temperature was 
something like minus 40° Celsius. 

In this tribe there is a little orphan boy whose name is 
Kadluktu. He lived for a long time at our winter house, 
under Matt's berth, and was well fed with the remnants 
of our meals. He was a nice and bright little fellow, 
and we took quite an interest in him. Matt, especially, 
seemed to have an almost fatherly care for him. First 
he gave him a thorough washing over his whole body. 
Then he employed a couple of old women to free his 
clothes from dirt and vermin, an operation that was 
greatly needed. When these things had been done, he 
cut the boy's hair as close as that of a seal ; and as far 
as outward appearance could go, Kadluktu was civilized. 
The little fellow has no steady home. He lives some- 
times with one family and at others with another, but 
wherever he goes he is always treated kindly. 

Kaoni is the name of a queer fellow who has a large 
wife and four children. I suspect that he is a bit hen- 
pecked. At the colonies which Kaoni visits there is 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 429 

always fun for the inhabitants, but it is at his expense. 
He is extremely awkward in everything that he does, and 
in addition to this he has the unfortunate habit of stut- 
tering. So it is inevitable that he should be the princi- 
pal figure in the funny stories which his neighbors tell 
each other. The following will serve as a sample of 
these humorous narrations. It represents a conversation 
such as occurs when two hunters who live near him meet 
each other : — 

" Nukta caught a narwhal day before yesterday, and 
Angodlu and Mahotia each caught a seal yesterday." 

" Indeed ! Akkomodingva and I also killed two seals 
yesterday. Kaoni was to go with us, but the kaiak he 
had borrowed upset just as he pushed out from land, and 
then he sta3^ed at home." [Long and subdued laughter 
from both hunters.] 

" What did Kaoni say when he came back again } " 

" Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-iak is no good," " Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-oni 
either, we added." [Again prolonged laughter from both 
parties.] 

On our last expedition we took with us an Edison 
phonograph, and often allowed the Eskimos to listen to 
it. Strange to say they did not seem to be very much 
impressed with this wonderful invention. They never 
for a moment appeared to connect this apparatus with 
anything supernatural. They laughed at it, and seemed 
to enjoy hearing its hidden voices, but evidently looked 
upon it much as they would have looked upon a toy with 
which they had been familiar for years. We expected 
that they would regard the voices as those of the spirits 
who hold a prominent place in their religious conceptions. 
But their keen intelligence seemed to immediately make 



430 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

plain to them that the phonograph, hke many other curi- 
osities which the Kablunak possessed, was a wonderfully 
complicated, but otherwise a quite natural, product of the 
work of human hands and minds. 

Most Eskimos can easily count up to twenty, but in 
practical affairs they seldom or never have any need for so 
large a number. When they refer to more than five ob- 
jects they usually say " many," or use some similar term 
without attempting to be exact. Sometimes, however, 
when in the long winter nights they sit in their low huts 
and cut from ivory small figures of men, or animals, or 
curiosities of various forms, they try to count them, and 
go as high as thirty or forty. They count on their fin- 
gers : one, atasuk ; two, magluk ; three, pingarsut ; four, 
sissami ; five, tedlumet. If they want to go higher they 
call six the first finger on the second hand, or igluane ata- 
suk (sometimes abbreviated to igluane) ; seven will be the 
second finger on the second hand, or igluane magluk, 
and so on until they reach ten. Then, as they have no 
more fingers, they begin to count over again on the fin- 
gers but give them the names of the toes. Therefore 
thirteen will be three toes on the first foot ; seventeen 
will be two toes on the second foot, and twenty will be 
the last toe on the last foot. If the Eskimo wants to 
count a larger number than twenty, he starts on a new 
man. Twenty -one will then be one on the new man 
(Innuit aipachsjani atasuk). In this way the count can be 
carried up to forty. 

The Eskimos are quite ingenious and are possessed of 
a good deal of mechanical skill. These qualities are par- 
ticularly exhibited when they have occasion to repair 
guns or other weapons or implements, for which work 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 431 

they have nothing suitable in the way of tools or mate- 
rials. One of their most difficult tasks is to put a gun in 
repair after the spring of the lock has been broken. It 
may be a long time, months, perhaps, before the owner or 
any of his friends can devise a remedy ; but one is pretty 
certain to be found, and on some fine day the gunner 
may again be seen in search of game, with his weapon in 
good working order. He may have been forced to give 
up the old lock, the spring now in use may be made of 
ivory instead of steel, and the discharge may be effected 
by pulling aside a piece of wood which has kept the ham- 
mer drawn back ; but in spite of all these things the gun 
is again a serviceable weapon, and the owner is able to do 
as much execution as he could before the accident which 
disabled it occurred. 

East of Cape York there are several large meteors. 
These were carefully examined by Lieutenant Peary in 
the spring of 1894. It is said that when the English 
polar expedition under Sir John Ross visited this region 
in the early part of the present century, the natives were 
using pieces of iron, which they obtained here, for point- 
ing their spears and harpoons. It is not easy to under- 
stand how they were able to hammer the iron into a 
suitable form without heating it. This method of working 
the metal was not known to the Eskimos in this vicinity 
until they came in contact with the members of the Peary 
expedition. It is therefore probable that in earlier times 
the natives were able to use only a few flat splinters 
which, by the agency of natural causes, had become 
separated from the larger bodies. 

The Eskimos are careful to protect the feet of their 
dogs from injury by the hard and sharp ice that forms 



432 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

upon the surface of the snow in spring. For this purpose 
they make socks of seal-skin, which are tied to the legs of 
the dogs below the lowest joint, and which prove very 
efficient. 

These people know the difference between hard and 
soft woods, and readily distinguish between pine and fir 
and oak and ash. As they have never seen a living tree, 
this seems quite remarkable. If they could suddenly be 
brought where they could see the mighty oaks or the 
dark green pines, similar to the trees which have fur- 
nished the small pieces of timber of which their sledges 
are made, they would shout with joy. 

The Eskimos have a good deal of musical taste, but in 
most cases it is so slightly developed that they are not 
able to catch our plainest and simplest airs. Still there 
are some exceptions. Ituschaksui was our most advanced 
pupil. We succeeded in teaching her to sing several of 
our common songs correctly. All the others to whom we 
tried to teach these airs would introduce many false notes. 
Still, their own songs, with which they were thoroughly 
familiar, they sang very nicely. This was especially true 
in chorus. Here no single voice made itself prominent 
among the others, and the general effect of the singing 
was quite pleasing. 

The religious ideas of the Eskimos at Smith Sound, 
though not very clearly defined, are nevertheless quite 
interesting. In this small tribe we find a shadow of the 
belief, or perhaps a groping after the ideas, that were held 
by our own ancestors thousands of years ago. In reality 
we are considering a people who are just beginning to 
emerge from the stone age. They are an original people 
who have remained in character and in conduct almost 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 433 

unchanged through the lapse of the ages, and who furnish 
one of the most interesting objects of study to those who 
desire to trace the development and progress of mankind. 

The various religions of civilized people have assumed 
certain definite forms. The doctrines of each can be 
stated in a few brief articles of faith which are set forth 
in the most positive terms. But it is altogether different 
with the religion, or rather with the religious conceptions, 
of the Eskimos. The views of this people are vague and 
undecided. Upon most points there is no general agree- 
ment as to what constitutes the truth, but each individual 
has his own ideas. These take a very wide range, but 
they are mostly in a shadowy form. 

Probably this uncertainty is very largely due to the 
small number of people in the tribe. In large societies 
people are strongly influenced by the opinions and beliefs 
of the masses around them. The fact that millions of 
people have accepted certain doctrines gives to these 
forms of belief a very strong presumption of truth. But 
where the public, so far as is known, embraces only a 
very few hundred people, its influence upon the individual 
must be relatively small. And where, as in this case, no 
common statement of belief has been formulated, the per- 
sonal element attains a still greater degree of prominence. 
My opinion upon this point has been strengthened, per- 
haps I might say that its truth has been confirmed, by 
various conversations which I have had with the natives 
themselves. 

After becoming well acquainted with him, and gaining 

his confidence to such an extent that he was willing to 

talk with me upon a subject which is one of the last 

which uncivilized people will discuss with others, I asked 

28 



434 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

Kolotengva, " Do the Innuits believe that there is a hfe 
after death ? " He repHed : " Yes. When an Innuit dies 
his soul (or rather ' shadow ') will wander to a land below 
us, where there is good hunting, much sunshine, and 
everything pleasant. But others think that the soul goes 
to a land high up in the air, and nobody is sure what is 
right. We Innuits are so few, and there are so many 
Kablunaks, and you know everything. Tell us how it is 
about this matter." 

It is not necessary to state in full my reply to this 
request. Suffice it to say that I went so far as to promise 
Kolotengva an eternal life much happier than his life on 
earth. No better consolation can be offered a man who 
is troubled by the thought of death. 

When a Christian feels the cares and sorrows of life 
bearing heavily upon him, and finds trial and disappoint- 
ment his constant companions, he turns in prayer to an al- 
mighty and compassionate God, and obtains the help and 
consolation which he so sorely needs. With the Eskimos 
mighty but invisible spirits take the place of God, and in 
some measure compensate for their want of knowledge of 
a single all-powerful Ruler. They think that these spirits 
can be imprisoned by their angekoks or magicians. When 
this has been accomplished it is thought that conferences 
can be held with the spirits, and that they can be per- 
suaded to cure sickness, give success in hunting, and aid 
in all of the various affairs of the daily lives of their peti- 
tioners. 

Both men and women can become angekoks, though 
all are not equally well adapted for such a distinction. 
Clearness of intellect, dexterity, and a talent for acting are 
all required to enable a man to secure respect as a magi- 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 435 

cian. The older angekoks teach the younger people who 
think themselves especially qualified for the position, or 
who are attracted to the mystic occupation. The time 
required for learning extends over several years, and dur- 
ing the course of instruction many mysterious ceremonies 
are performed. 

The principal spirit of which the Eskimos profess to 
have knowledge is Tornahuksua (" the giant shadow "). 
According to the angekoks he lives exclusively upon the 
land, can do harm as well as good, and though of super- 
natural size, he has the human form. When on a quiet 
day in summer some sudden noise of falling rocks is 
heard in a colony, the inhabitants will say in a low and 
anxious voice, " Tornahuksua ! Tornahuksua ! " They 
think this mighty spirit is then wandering along the dark 
cliffs of the mountain-side. 

Another spirit of considerable importance is called 
Kokvoia. This is said to have long black arms, and to 
live in the sea. There are also many other spirits and 
mystic beings, but they are all of an inferior order. There 
is, as has been indicated, a great deal of superstition 
among the natives, but it is so vague, and varies so much 
with different individuals, that it is hardly possible to note 
any specific form which can be said to be characteristic of 
the tribe. 

It is difficult to say how many angekoks are to be 
found among the Innuits at Smith Sound. In fact, there 
is a great difference of opinion among the members of 
the tribe as to which individuals of their number are 
entitled to this distinction. For myself, I do not think 
that there is a very strongly marked difference between 
the magicians and many of those who are not fully recog- 



436 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

nized as such. My impression is that all who can show a 
little feehng and mysticism in their songs make preten- 
sions of belonging to this elass on every occasion that 
offers itself. It is, however, one thing for a person to 
pose as an angekok and quite another to so appear as 
to inspire others with reverence. There are hardly more 
than a half dozen in the tribe who are really venerated by 
their companions. Of these, four are men and two are 
elderly women. 

The youngest of the four male angekoks, and the one 
who is the most highly respected, is Kayapaddu. He is 
about thirty-five years of age, fat and smiling, and has only 
to put on the blue snow-spectacles with which Peary pre- 
sented him to very closely resemble a good old-fashioned 
minister. When he gave his spiritualistic seances, the 
light from the train-oil lamp was turned so low that the 
occupants of the room could hardly see each other. Then 
Kayapaddu, holding a skin drum in one hand and a drum- 
stick made of bone in the other, would go forward on the 
floor and begin to sing and drum. 

At first his song was low and quiet, but gradually it 
would show more and more excitement, his body would 
sway so that his long hair would wave wildly around, and 
his face would take on an agonized expression. In a few 
hours he was covered with perspiration. He pressed his 
hands to his forehead, cried and moaned, then suddenly 
burst out in a roaring, almost a demoniacal laughter, and 
at last succeeded in making appear for him some invisible 
spirits of the lower orders that he used as messengers to 
the higher powers. Now he frequently changed his _voice. 
Sometimes it represented the voice of a spirit, at others it 
was perfectly natural. He became more and more noisy 



INTELLIGENCE, RELIGIOUS IDEAS, CUSTOMS 437 

and demonstrative, until at length many of his hearers 
became so nervous and excited that they trembled with 
emotion and some of them began to moan with him. 

If the object of this performance was to heal the sick, 
or to prolong the life of one who appeared to be dying, 
Kayapaddu would sometimes continue the exercises for 
several hours. He would seldom give up until the pa- 
tient was either dead or improving. If death occurred 
at such a time it would be said, in favor of the angekok, 
that recovery was impossible, as some hostile spirit had 
obtained power over the soul, and had previously stolen 
it, or some similar excuse for his failure would be made. 
If, on the other hand, recovery ensued, respect for the 
magician appeared to be greatly increased. 

There is no doubt that the natives who are present at 
these performances believe that the spirits are really pres- 
ent, and that they negotiate with the angekok. And for 
my part I dare not doubt that the angekok acts in good 
faith. It is often said, and perhaps correctly, that if a lie 
is repeated times enough, the one who tells it comes to 
believe that it is true. There can hardly be a question 
that the ans^ekoks are self-deceived. 

The belief which appears to extend to all races and all 
parts of the world in amulets, or objects that have the 
power to protect their wearer from evil spirits and give 
security when danger threatens, is common among the 
Eskimos at Smith Sound. These amulets are often nar- 
row bracelets of black seal-skin without hair. For women 
necklaces of the same material are in common use. Pieces 
of seal-skin clothes that once belonged to people who have 
died, small ivory figures of men or animals, and various 
other objects are also employed. The amulets are conse- 



438 ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLAND 

crated by singing mystic songs over them. As a rule the 
older people decide, or at least suggest, what objects the 
children or young people ought to select for the purpose/;.^ 

When an Eskimo dies the remaining members of the 
family observe many formalities, in order that the soul of,,, 
the deceased shall not feel insulted. They are not to^' 
mention his name, but must cry and mourn a certain j> 
leno^th of time after his death. Those who have touched 
the dead body or anything belonging to it must for a 
long period observe certain rules in regard to their cloth- 
ing and diet. 

Before the body is taken out it is dressed in full travel- 
ling costume. Then it is drawn by straps through the 
entry of the house, taken for some distance from the 
dwellings and away from the shore, and is well covered 
with stones. Often the corpse is bent so that the knees 
touch the breast, and is then rolled in skins. This is 
done to save the labor of making as large a grave as 
otherwise would be needed. The house in which a c^ieath 
has occurred is immediately vacated. If it is ever used 
again it will be only after a long period of time has inter- 
vened. 

All the property of the dead that his friends think 
could be of service to him in his long wandering to the 
land of souls is placed near the grave. The natives be- 
lieve that it is the " souls " of these objects, and not the 
material things themselves, that will be useful to the de- 
parted in his long last journey. And while the soul is 
going toward the distant sunlit hunting fields the body 
remains in eternal sleep. Only the chilling blasts of the 
wind penetrate among the stones and sweep through the 
faded fur coat in which all that was mortal of the man 
is clothed. 



A BRIEF HISTORY 

OF THE PRINCIPAL 

EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

FROM THE NINTH CENTURY TO THE 
PEARY EXPEDITION 

INCLUDING THOSE OF 

CABOT, FROBISHER, BERING, SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 

KANE, HAYES, HALL, NORDENSKJOLD, 

NARES, SCHWATKA, DE LONG, 

GREELY, AND OTHERS 

JOHN E. READ 

ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE "COLUMBIAN CYCLOPEDIA" 




^^J^ /^az^i/€^A^ 



EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 



CHAPTER XXVI 

PIONEER VOYAGES 



Who first engaged in Arctic exploration, and from 
what point and on what date the first expedition started, is 
unknown. Pytheas, a geographer who Hved in the time 
of Alexander the Great, claimed to have entered the 
Polar Zone. He reported the discovery of various re- 
gions, and represented that he had " explored Northern 
Europe even to the world's end." To some region that 
he visited the name of Thule was given ; but whether this 
was Iceland, one of the Shetland Islands, or some other 
country, cannot be determined. 

Whatever may have previously been discovered, it is 
probable that in the middle of the ninth century there 
were no human settlements farther north than the Faroe 
Islands. It is certain that at this date the Scandinavians 
were a hardy and restless people, fearless and persevering, 
and possessed of an unquenchable spirit of adventure and 
thirst for discovery. There is reason to suppose that 
about the year 860 a party of these sea rovers, while at- 
tempting to reach the Faroe Islands, were driven upon an 
island which presented such an inhospitable appearance 
that they named it Snowland. A few years later a party 
of Swedes visited the same island and gave it the name of 

441 



442 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

Iceland, by which it has since been known. In or about 
the year 874 Norwegian adventurers established the first 
permanent settlement upon the island and laid the foun- 
dations of a prosperous colony. 

Previous to this, voyages in the northern waters appear 
to have been undertaken principally for the purpose of 
adventure. But in 890 Simon Otho, or Other, a Norwe- 
gian sailor, reputed to have been in the service of Alfred 
the Great of England, seems to have engaged in a mari- 
time exploration which had a commercial end in view. 
At this time the Venetians and the Moors controlled 
commerce and shut out the English people from direct 
trade with Turkey and India. It was therefore desired 
to find a way of reaching these countries without passing 
into the Mediterranean Sea. According to ancient rec- 
ords the king fitted out a ship and commissioned Otho 
to make a voyage of discovery " for the glorye of God, the 
honour of his kinge, and publique goode of his countrie." 
Thus equipped Otho commenced a search for a northeast 
passage to India. Just how far he went cannot be deter- 
mined, but it is certain that he sailed around the northern 
extremity of Iceland, and that he was the first navigator 
who crossed the Arctic Circle. After enduring many 
hardships he returned home without making any valuable 
discoveries. 

When the Iceland colony had been established about 
a hundred years it was joined by Thorwald, a powerful 
chief who had been expelled from Norway. He was soon 
followed by his son, who is known in history as Eric the 
Red. The latter had heard of a land upon which a sail- 
ing party had been driven in a storm, and in the year 982 
he started on a voyage on which he discovered a country 



PIONEER VOYAGES 443 

which he called Greenland. It is supposed that this 
pleasant name was given in order to induce people to 
settle there. That it proved disappointing to some of its 
visitors is indicated by one of the early writers, who said 
that " certainly there is no place in the world yet knowne 
and discovered that is less greene than it." In spite of 
the forbidding aspect of the country, Eric succeeded in 
establishing a colony which soon became of considerable 
importance. The Christian religion was accepted and 
the church prospered to such an extent that in 1 1 2 1 a 
bishop was consecrated. For about three hundred years 
thereafter the colony was strong and thriving. At the 
close of this period a rapid decline commenced, and the 
church and colony fell into utter ruin. The causes 
of their disappearance are involved in an impenetrable 
mystery. 

In the year 1000 Leif, a son of Eric the Red, having 
been told by a visitor from Iceland who had encountered 
contrary winds of a land that he had seen while on his 
way, started on a voyage in hope of discovering this un- 
known region. The numerous accounts of this voyage 
which have come down to the present tirne show consid- 
erable variation as to details, but it is clear that the party 
saw Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, that they landed on 
the coast of New England, that they wintered near Plym- 
outh Rock, and that here was born a child that in all 
probability was the first one born of European parents on 
the American continent. On account of the great num- 
ber of vines which were found, the country was named 
Vinland. All this occurred nearly five hundred years 
before Columbus set foot on the New World. 

In 1380 two Venetian brothers, named Zeno, are said 



444 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

to have sailed to the north and on their return given 
interesting accounts of the countries which they had 
seen, but just what lands they reached cannot be deter- 
mined. Various other venturesome navigators sailed upon 
American waters, but for a long period after the discovery 
of the New England coast no important results were 
obtained. 

The wonderful discoveries of Columbus gave a new 
and powerful impetus to maritime adventure and explo- 
ration. From this time on, instead of the roving voyages 
of individuals, expeditions were organized with great care, 
often under the authority of the government of the coun- 
try whence they sailed, and were commanded by men 
who were educated in the science of the time and also 
were in most cases practical seamen. In 1496 John 
Cabot, a Venetian then living at Bristol, and his sons 
were authorized by a royal patent from Henry VII. of 
England to sail under the English flag " to all parts, 
countries, and seas, of the east, of the west, and of the 
north," and as officers of the king to take possession of 
whatever lands they might discover. The explorers were 
obliged to furnish their own ships and equipment, and it 
was not until the spring of 1497 that the expedition 
started. On this trip John Cabot was accompanied by 
his second son, Sebastian, who became a noted explorer. 
Newfoundland and Labrador were discovered some eigh- 
teen months before Columbus reached the mainland of 
America. In 1498 John Cabot received another com- 
mission from the king, but for some unknown reason he 
was not able to go with the expedition, and Sebastian 
Cabot took command of the two ships that had been pro- 
vided. There is no doubt that an effort was made to find 



PIONEER VOYAGES 445 

a northwest passage to India, but accounts of the expedi- 
tion are so hopelessly confused and conflicting that it is 
impossible to determine the course that ^as pursued or 
the highest degree of latitude that was reached. 

In the year 1 500 Caspar Cortereal, of Portugal, a mem- 
ber of a noble family and connected with the court of 
King Emmanuel of that country, sailed from Lisbon and 
explored the coast of Labrador for several hundred miles. 
The following year he made another voyage, and probably 
reached Hudson Strait; but during a violent storm his 
ship disappeared, and no trace of it or of its crew was 
ever found. In 1524 France sent out an expedition, com- 
manded by Giovanni Verazzano, which followed the coast 
of the United States and of British America to a latitude 
of 50°. After his return Jacques Cartier sailed from 
France and reached the Bay of St. Lawrence, which, with 
the St. Lawrence River, he afterward more fully explored. 

During the reign of Henry VIII. two polar expeditions 
were made by the English, but they added little or nothing 
to the knowledge of northern regions that had previously 
been acquired. Then a company of merchants, said to 
have been men of " great wisdom and gravity," fitted out 
three ships for an expedition to search for a northeastern 
passage to India and China. Sir Hugh Willoughby, who, 
though he seems to have known very little about naval 
affairs, was considered " a most valiant gentleman," was 
chosen commander. Instructions for the voyage were 
carefully drawn by Sebastian Cabot. This expedition 
sailed in 1553. While off the North Cape a gale sepa- 
rated the ships. Willoughby came within sight of Nova 
Zembla, but progress northward being impossible on ac- 
count of the ice, he turned back to the mouth of a river 



446 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

in Lapland, where he went into winter quarters with the 
crews of the two ships which had kept together. Here 
they all perished with cold or hunger. The ships were 
afterward recovered and started for England with the 
bodies of the departed, some seventy in number, but they 
foundered at sea and the living were engulfed with the 
dead. The third ship, commanded by Chancelor, reached 
a place where there was " no night at all " and sailed into 
the White Sea. The crew landed at Archangel and 
opened the way for an extensive commerce between Eng- 
land and Russia. 

In 1576 Martin Frobisher sailed from England in hope 
of discovering a northwest passage. Great demonstrations 
were made by the people, and Queen Elizabeth sent a 
gentleman on board to inform the crews that she wished 
them " happie successe." A point off the coast of South- 
ern Greenland was reached, but the winds were so con- 
trary that a landing could not be effected. One of the 
vessels was lost and the commander of another deserted 
the expedition and sailed back to England. Frobisher 
continued his voyage and passed into what is still known 
as Frobisher Strait. Returning home, he carried, with 
various other things, specimens of minerals which were 
tested by various parties, by some of whom they were said 
to contain gold. Great excitement was occasioned by this 
report and the queen placed Frobisher in command of 
another expedition. These ships brought back some two 
hundred tons of the ore, but it was found to be not only 
destitute of gold but absolutely worthless. A third and 
larger expedition was soon prepared and sent out under 
the same commander, but it met with various and great 
disasters and accomplished nothing of marked importance. 



PIONEER VOYAGES 



447 





^r(U)Jrii^^a^i/J^ 



From Justin Winsor's " Narrative and Critical History of America.' 
By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



In 1580 two ships departed from England in search of 
a northeast passage. They were commanded by Arthur 
Pet and Charles Jackman. They entered the Kara Sea, 
but soon found farther progress impossible and returned. 
Three years later Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who had written 
upon the subject of the northwest passage, secured from 
Queen Elizabeth permission to make a voyage to America 
and to take possession of all "heathen and barbarous 
countries " which he should discover. One fifth of the 



448 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

gold and silver secured was to become the property of 
the crown, and homage was to be paid to the sovereign. 
With these exceptions Sir Humphrey was to have abso- 
lute authority in the regions of which he should take pos- 
session. After two unsuccessful efforts, the first from 
trouble with the crews and the second from bad weather, 
he sailed with five ships. One soon returned. The others 
reached Newfoundland, and formal possession was taken 
of the island. One ship was sent home with a number of 
the crew who were sick, and one of the others struck on 
the coast and was destroyed by the waves. Only sixteen 
of the crew escaped. The captain and about one hun- 
dred of his men went down with the ship. Fogs were 
heavy and food supplies were becoming scanty. The 
crews of the two remaining ships desired to go back to 
England. After exacting a promise that they would re- 
turn with him the next spring, Sir Humphrey consented 
to grant their request and the homeward voyage was com- 
menced. The ship on which Sir Humphrey sailed was 
greatly- overloaded, and, encountering a hard storm, it went 
down with all on board. The remaining vessel succeeded 
in reaching England, though in a somewhat disabled con- 
dition. 

A company of English merchants, with the " desire of 
advancing God's glory and the good of their native land," 
fitted out two vessels for a voyage to discover a passage 
to India. This expedition was placed in charge of John 
Davis, who sailed in 1585. After reaching the coast of 
Greenland and following it to a considerable distance, he 
turned to the west and discovered the strait to which his 
name has been given. He reached a point much farther 
north than any previous navigator, but storms and fogs 



PIONEER VOYAGES 449 

were encountered and the ships returned to England. In 
1586 and 1587 Davis revisited the places discovered on his 
first expedition, and reached a somewhat higher latitude, 
but great quantities of floating ice soon caused him to 
leave the dangerous locality. 

The next polar expedition of great importance was com- 
manded by William Barents, of Holland. He made three 
voyages, the first in 1594. During this voyage he reached 
the northern point of Nova Zembla, but could not proceed 
farther on account of the ice. That he was wonderfully 
persevering in the face of great difficulties is evidenced by 
the fact that in trying to get through the pack of ice he 
put his ship around eighty-one times. He returned home 
and the following year had command of another expedi- 
tion, but soon after he reached the Kara Sea a great storm 
arose and large quantities of ice drifted around the ships. 
Efforts to proceed were futile and the weather became 
severe. At this juncture a council was held, and it was 
resolved that they had done the best they could to carry 
out the instructions under which they had sailed, but that 
it was now to be " seen that it does not please God that 
we should continue our voyage, and that it is necessary 
we should desist." They therefore resolved to return to 
Holland as quickly as possible. The government de- 
clined to take further risks in the matter, but offered a 
reward to any one who should discover the passage. A 
few residents of Amsterdam equipped two vessels, one of 
which was commanded by a seaman named Rijp, and the 
other by Barents, which sailed in 1596. Early in June 
they came to Bear Island and later in the same month 
they discovered Spitzbergen. Here the commanders were 
unable to agree as to the course to be pursued. They 
29 



45 o EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

therefore separated, and each followed the direction which 
seemed to him most likely to lead to a successful issue. 
After sailing for some time and making no discoveries, 
Rijp returned to Holland. Barents reached the northeast 
corner of Nova Zembla, entered a bay which was called 
Ice Haven, and was closed in by the ice. Here, with the 
sixteen men of his crew, he was forced to spend the win- 
ter. With a quantity of drift wood which they found, and 
some planks from the ship, they built a house. Here they 
suffered almost beyond endurance. An entry in their 
journal states that the cold was so intense that " what fire 
soever wee made it would not warme us." Often the walls 
were covered with ice and clothing froze while it was be- 
ing dried by the fire. For eighty-one days they were with- 
out the sun. One of their number died. During the 
spring the weather became milder and plans were formed 
for an escape from their dreary abode. But it was not 
until June 14 that they were able to leave, and then they 
were obliged to go in two open boats, as the ship was fast in 
the ice. Barents, who had been ill for some time, died on 
the fifth or sixth day of the voyage. After enduring great 
privations twelve of the crew reached Lapland and were 
taken home by a Dutch vessel which stopped there on its 
return from a trading voyage. More than two hundred 
and seventy years later the house which Barents and his 
crew had occupied, and in which they had endured such 
terrible privations, was visited by a Norwegian trader 
named Carlsen, who found cooking utensils, tools, books, 
a flute, and numerous other articles, apparently just as 
they had been left when those who had used them so long 
ago departed never to return. 

During the next few years various expeditions sailed 



PIONEER VOYAGES 45 1 

to the north, but no valuable results were secured. In 
the year 1607 Henry Hudson entered the list of Arctic 
explorers, and in the four voyages which he sailed he 
made discoveries of great importance. The first of these 
expeditions was sent out by the Muscovy Company. His 
orders were to " go direct to the North Pole." His ship 
was small and his crew consisted of only twelve men and 
a boy. He passed along the east coast of Greenland and 
examined the coast of Spitzbergen, but after reaching a 
latitude of about 81° his progress was checked by ice and 
fog. His stock of provisions was scanty, and, the weather 
becoming intensely cold, he returned home. The follow- 
ing year he sailed again, in a little larger vessel, and 
hoped to find a northeast passage ; but heavy fogs and an 
enormous quantity of ice prevented him from reaching a 
higher latitude than 75°. Upon this voyage he found the 
waters teeming with whales and seals, some of which he 
hoped to capture, and with the proceeds defray the ex- 
penses of the expedition. In this he was as unsuccessful 
as he was in the main object of his trip, but from his 
discovery very extensive and profitable fisheries were 
afterward developed. The next year Hudson engaged 
in the service of the Dutch East India Company. His 
report of this voyage indicates that he followed his own 
inclinations more closely than he did the course which 
his employers expected him to pursue. For though he 
started northeastward, he soon, under the plea that the 
ice was impenetrable, sailed to the west. Continuing this 
course, he reached the bay upon the shore of which New 
York city now stands, and discovered the magnificent 
river which bears his name. In the spring of 16 10 
Hudson sailed upon what proved to be his final voyage. 



452 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

A ship of fifty-five tons, called the Discovery, was fitted 
out by persons who believed that a northeast passage 
could be found, and who chose Hudson as its commander. 
He visited the Orkney and Faroe Islands, passed near 
Iceland, and reached what is now called Resolution 
Island. From this point he was unable to proceed to the 
north. Turning toward the south, he came to the great 
strait which has received his name. Progress was ex- 
ceedingly difficult on account of ice, but he pressed 
onward until he came to the great body of water that is 
now known as Hudson Bay. This appeared to him to 
be a great open sea, and he believed it was a part of the 
Pacific Ocean. He sailed for a long distance into this 
great bay, but the weather became severe and it was 
necessary to go into winter quarters. What appeared to 
be a suitable place was found upon an island, the vessel 
was brought to the shore, and was soon fast in the ice, 
and preparations were made for spending a long and 
dreary season at this inhospitable retreat. The crew were 
greatly dissatisfied. Their means of protection from the 
cold were wholly inadequate, their supplies of food were 
very scanty, and during the winter they endured great 
hardships. Hudson, however, seems never to have lost 
courage or wavered in his determination to do all that 
was within his power to bring his voyage to a successful 
issue. But in the spring, when an attempt was made to 
continue the exploration, a portion of the crew mutinied. 
Hudson, his son, several sailors who were sick, and the 
carpenter, who refused to remain with the mutineers, were 
sent adrift in an open boat and were never heard of again. 
A careful study of what data could be obtained kd to 
a belief that by sailing across the great open water that 



PIONEER VOYAGES 453 

Hudson had discovered the shore of China could be 
reached. In 161 2 Captain Button was sent out by Prince 
Henry of Wales to find a northwest passage and proceed 
to the Asiatic coast. He reached the mouth of the Nel- 
son River, where at a later date the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany established its first station. Here he was obliged 
to stay until spring, when he continued the voyage until 
he reached a latitude of 65°. Then he turned southward, 
and after touching at Mansell Islands sailed to England. 
Although he had not been able to find it, he expressed a 
firm belief in the existence of the passage. About this 
time various other expeditions were sent out, but no dis- 
coveries of great importance were made. 

In 161 6 William Bafiin reached and explored the great 
body of water which has received his name and which 
geographers have pronounced " the most magnificent bay 
in the world." He passed Lancaster Sound, into which 
Parry sailed some two hundred years afterward, and dis- 
covered Smith Sound. His reports were not credited at 
the time ; but later explorers found that they were true, 
and that his lunar observations had been taken with a 
remarkable degree of skill. 

Several other expeditions were sent out at brief inter- 
vals, but for a long period no point was reached as far 
north as Bafiin had penetrated, and faith in the existence 
of a northwest passage gradually declined. Then, too, 
about this time the interest of explorers was turned to- 
ward America, which became the objective point of nu- 
merous voyages for the discovery of new regions and the 
establishment of colonies. 

Toward the close of his career Peter the Great of 
Russia formed the plan of sending a party to explore the 



454 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

northeastern portion of his dominions and find at what 
point, if any, the continents of Asia and America were 
separated by water. Empress Catherine was interested in 
the project, and after the death of the Czar carried out his 
wishes in this respect. An expedition under the com- 
mand of Captain Vitus Bering, a Dane who had become 
a trusted officer in the Russian navy, left St. Petersburg 
in 1725 and proceeded by land to Ochotzk, a distance of 
nearly four thousand five hundred miles. Here two ships 
were built, and in July, 1728, the party sailed toward the 
northeast. They made various observations along the 
coast of Kamtschatka, and proceeded to latitude 67° 18', 
when, finding no appearance of land and fearing the 
rigors of the rapidly approaching winter, they returned 
to the port from which they had sailed. Here the weary 
months of the winter were passed. The effort to reach 
the American continent was then repeated, but was in 
vain. 

The final voyage of this great navigator was made in 
1 74 1 . With two ships he left a harbor in Kamtschatka 
on the 4th of June, and on the i8th of July he discovered 
the continent of America. The captain of the other ship 
had sighted the same coast, at a lower latitude, three days 
before. He remained in the vicinity for some days, lost 
several men who went on shore, and then, with the 
remainder of his crew, returned home. Bering made an 
effort to proceed to a higher latitude, but was driven back 
by a violent storm. The scurvy broke out among the 
crew, and it was decided to return to Kamtschatka, but 
on the way they missed their course. Several of the crew 
had died, and so many of the survivors were sick that it 
was almost impossible to manage the ship. Fogs and 



PIONEER VOYAGES 4SS 

gales were encountered, and they were in almost constant 
fear of being wrecked. In November they were driven 
upon a small island, which received the name of the com- 
mander of the expedition. There they made what prep- 
arations they could and went into winter quarters. On 
the 8th of December Bering, who had been ill for some 
time, passed away. The discovery and naming of Mount 
St. Elias, and the discovery of Bering Strait, which proved 
that Asia and America were not connected by land, were 
among the fruits of this expedition, in which one of the 
most meritorious of the great Arctic explorers lost his life. 
This was followed by several other Russian expeditions, 
some by sea and others by land, by which considerable 
additions to the previous knowledge of various sciences 
were made. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

INTEREST RENEWED 

In 1743 interest in Arctic exploration was revived by 
an offer made by the British Government of a reward of 
;^20,ooo for the discovery of the Northwest Passage by 
way of Hudson Strait. Various voyages were made, but 
their main object was not accomphshed and the results 
were very meagre. In 1776 the government removed the 
restriction as to the route, and offered the reward for 
the discovery of " any northern passage " navigable for 
ships, and also added an offer of ^5,000 to any one who 
would penetrate to within one degree of the North Pole. 
Among the navigators who attempted to solve the great 
Arctic problem were the famous Captain Cook, whose 
course was blocked by ice in latitude 70° 20', and Sir 
Alexander Mackenzie, who discovered the great river that 
is called by his name. William Scoresby, a noted whaler, 
while on a cruise off the east coast of Greenland, in 1806, 
succeeded in working his way through the ice into a 
great open sea and reaching a latitude of 81° 30', a higher 
point than had previously been attained. 

From the ofHcers and crews of whaling vessels which 
returned from the coast of Greenland in 18 16 and 181 7, 
the British naval authorities learned that the sea was 
then unusually clear of ice. It was therefore considered a 
favorable time for pushing the work of exploration ; and 
in 1818 an expedition, under the command of Captain 



INTEREST RENEWED 457 

John Ross and Lieutenant William Edward Parry, both 
of whom were subsequently knighted for their services in 
this field of investigation, was sent to discover the North- 
west Passage. The two vessels with which they had 
been furnished sailed in April and arrived at the Danish 
settlement on the Whale Islands in June. Here they 
learned that the preceding winter had been unusually 
severe. After various delays, and encountering great 
dangers from the ice, they reached a rugged coast upon 
which they landed and which they explored for quite a 
distance. Proceeding on their voyage, they followed to 
a considerable extent the course which Baffin had pur- 
sued. Various sounds that he had described were passed ; 
but as appearances indicated that they were either bays 
or else were impassable on account of ice, no effort was 
made to explore them. On the 30th of August they 
reached one of these inlets which was bordered by 
majestic mountains and which, being free from ice, it was 
resolved to explore. This proved to be Lancaster Sound. 
For some thirty miles the course was unobstructed, and 
the officers and crews were hopeful and almost confident 
that full success was soon to crown their arduous and 
perilous undertaking. After proceeding a little farther 
they found, much to their disappointment, the appearance 
of a mountain range directly across their course. The 
weather was threatening, and Captain Ross hastily gave 
orders to return to the bay. When this was reached the 
western coast was followed for some distance, and then 
the expedition returned to England, arriving there safely 
in October. 

This failure to discover the passage for which so many 
other navigators had searched in vain strongly tended to 



458 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

confirm the opinion that Baffin had formed, and many 
others had accepted, that from Lancaster Sound there 
was no entrance to a sea lying to the west. From this 
view Lieutenant Parry dissented, claiming that this expe- 
dition, like others which had preceded it, " had been 
relinquished just at a time when there was the greatest 
chance of success." After a careful investigation of the 
causes which led Ross to return, the government directed 
Parry to make another voyage. In accordance with this 
commission he sailed from England, with two ships, in 
May, 1819. 

The ships were provisioned for two years, and were 
well supplied with whatever was supposed to be needed in 
such a voyage. The instructions under which he sailed 
required the commander to make as thorough an explora- 
tion as possible of Lancaster Sound, and, in case that was 
found to be impenetrable, to enter other inlets, if open 
ones were found. A direct voyage to Lancaster Sound 
was attempted, but when latitude 73° was reached vast 
masses of ice were encountered. For some ten days 
navigation was extremely difficult, and many times the 
ships narrowly escaped being wa'ecked. On the 25th of 
June an open way appeared, and the voyage was con- 
tinued with but little difficulty till on the 30th of July 
the southern entrance to Lancaster Sound was reached. 
This was about four weeks earlier in the season than the 
expedition of the previous year had come to this point. 
On the following day the crew went on land and found 
a flagstaff that had been set the year before. 

The ships then passed up the sound, and officers and 
crews watched with great anxiety for evidence that 
should determine whether the mountains which Ross had 



INTEREST RENE WED 459 

claimed to see, and to which he had given the name of 
Croker Range, really existed, or were, as Parry firmly be- 
lieved, only imaginary. The point at which the range 
had been located was passed without obstruction and was 
found to be a splendid bay. Continuing their voyage 
along the wide inlet, which, in honor of Sir John Barrow, 
one of the principal promoters of the expedition, was 
named Barrow Strait, the party became confident that 
their course would lead them to an open sea. They 
were soon disappointed by coming to an island from 
which a body of ice extended to the northern shore. For 
some time the compass had been losing its sensitiveness, 
and at length it became entirely useless. By this it was 
known that they were near the magnetic pole ; but the 
time in which Arctic exploration could be continued was 
so brief that it was not considered wise to delay in order 
to take exact observations. Varying their course to avoid 
the ice, and pressing forward with what speed they were 
able, they came, on the 2 2d of August, to a strait some 
eight leagues in width, that seemed to be free from ice, 
which was named Wellington Channel, but which, for 
want of time, was not explored. On September 4 the 
meridian of 110° west longitude was crossed, and Parry 
announced to his crews that they were then entitled to 
the reward of ^5,000 which had been offered to subjects 
of his Majesty who should first reach that meridian within 
the Arctic Circle. In honor of the event a point of land 
on Melville Island, near by, was named Bounty Cape. 

The weather was growing severe, the nights were dark, 
and, as the compass was useless, progress was slow and 
difficult Still, it was hoped that exploration could be 
continued for some weeks. But only four days after 



460 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

crossing the meridian which they had been so anxious to 
reach, their course was completely blocked by solid ice. 
After waiting about a fortnight in hope that the barrier 
could be penetrated, they became convinced, not only that 
further progress was impossible, but also that to remain 
where they were involved great and immediate danger 
that the ships would become fast in the ice. It was 
therefore decided to return as far as Melville Island and 
attempt to enter one of the two good harbors which 
had been observed as they passed a few weeks before. 
Considerable difhculty was experienced in reaching the 
vicinity of the western harbor, which seemed to offer 
a safer retreat than the other, and then it was found 
necessary to cut a channel more than two miles in length 
and wide enough to admit the passage of the ships, 
through ice that averaged seven inches in thickness. 
This difficult task accomplished, the ships ^ were brought, 
on the 26th of September, to a safe anchorage, in five 
fathoms of water, at a point near the beach. Here they 
were destined to remain until August of the following 
year. 

For a few weeks some game was secured by hunting 
parties ; but as the weather became more severe, the ani- 
mals that were suitable for food migrated, and only foxes 
and wolves remained on the island. Before the close of 
October the mercury sank to 24° below zero, and it be- 
came necessary to spend most of the time on board the 
ships. In order to keep his men cheerful, and help while 
away the long and dreary period which he knew must 
elapse before they could leave the spot upon which they 
were practically imprisoned. Parry organized a theatrical 
party which gave a performance every two weeks during 



INTEREST RENE WED 461 

the long night of three months that set in at the time 
this unique place of amusement was opened. A weekly 
newspaper was established, and served, in some measure 
at least, to take the attention of the men from their un- 
pleasant surroundings and keep their minds active and 
interested. By these diversions, and by the regular exer- 
cise on the decks of the ships, which was required by the 
commander, the health of the men was well maintained. 
During January it became very cold, the thermometer 
registering from 30° to 40° below zero a large part of the 
month. February brought still severer cold, 55° below 
zero being indicated on the i6th, but it also brought the 
sun. March gave a little relief, but it was not until 
the last of April that there was a rapid rise in tempera- 
ture. With the increased warmth birds and quadrupeds 
returned from the south, and hunting expeditions were 
made with the double purpose of giving the men exercise 
and of increasing the food supply. 

During the first half of May the ice was cut, and on 
the 1 7th of that month the ships were once more afloat, 
but until the 2d of August they remained locked in the 
harbor by the great body of ice .that lay between them 
and the open water. When it became evident that con- 
siderable time must elapse before their voyage could be 
resumed, Parry and a party of his men made a partial ex- 
ploration of Melville Island. On most of the area the soil 
was barren, but the western coast had some vegetation 
and a greater abundance of game. Not only were moss, 
grass, saxifrage, and dwarf willows found, but one of the 
party was surprised and delighted by securing a ranuncu- 
lus in full flower. In June the snow thawed rapidly and 
walking became very difficult. The ravines, too, were 



462 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

filled with torrents of water, which made them both diffi- 
cult and dangerous to cross. 

On the 2d of August the body of ice by which the 
ships had for so long a time been imprisoned broke up 
and floated away. The voyage was resumed ; but on the 
15th of the month, when the southwestern extremity of 
the island had been reached, an impassable barrier of ice 
was found. Careful observation, from a high point of 
land, led to the belief that there was no possibility of 
advancing in that direction, and a search for a passage 
farther to the south was decided upon. This proved un- 
successful, and the expedition returned to England. In 
this voyage Parry had reached a spot more than thirty de- 
grees of west longitude beyond the extreme point touched 
by any of his predecessors. 

At the time the expedition commanded by Ross was 
sent out to discover a northwest passage, another, under 
Captain Buchan and Lieutenant, afterward Sir John 
Franklin, was fitted out to discover the North Pole. Two 
ships were provided, and instructions were given to pro- 
ceed into the Spitzbergen seas, and, passing between 
Spitzbergen and Greenland, push directly for the Pole. 
The weather was bad and the ships were soon separated, 
but early in June they met at an appointed place off 
Spitzbergen. Learning from the officers of whaling ves- 
sels that the sea to the west was filled with ice, Captain 
Buchan sailed to the north ; but before passing the north- 
western point of Spitzbergen the ships became fast in the 
ice, and for thirteen days they were carried to the south at 
the rate of about three miles per day. After getting free 
they made another attempt to proceed, but early in July 
they were again imprisoned in the ice. Here they were 



INTEREST RENE WED 463 

detained for three weeks. Further efforts to pass north- 
ward appearing to be useless, it was decided to give up 
the attempt and endeavor to pass along the eastern coast 
of Greenland. They were soon overtaken by a violent 
gale ; and as one of the ships was badly injured, it became 
necessary to proceed to Fair Haven for repairs. When 
these were made the ships started on their homeward voy- 
ao^e and reached the Thames on the 2 2d of October. 

In order to increase the chances of success in the effort 
to learn the real condition of the northern polar regions, 
a party was sent out by the British Government, in 18 19, 
to pass overland and survey the northern coast of the con- 
tinent from the mouth of the Coppermine River to Bering 
Strait. This party consisted of five persons : Sir John 
Franklin, who was appointed commander ; Dr. Richard- 
son, a naval surgeon ; George Back and Robert Hood, 
midshipmen ; and John Hepburn, a seaman. They left 
England in May and after a perilous voyage reached York 
Factory, a station on Hudson Bay, August 30. Here 
they were delayed about ten days in making necessary 
preparations for a continuance of their trip. Following 
rivers and lakes as much as possible, but in many places 
finding their course impeded by rocks or rapids, they 
reached another station of the Hudson Bay Company, 
called Cumberland House, on the 2 2d of October, hav- 
ing traversed a distance of about seven hundred miles. 

Notwithstanding the lateness of the season and the 
increasing intensity of the cold, Franklin felt that a part 
of the company ought to proceed to one of the stations 
on Athabasca Lake, or perhaps even farther north, where, 
he had been informed, guides and interpreters could be 
secured. It was arranged that Franklin, with two of the 



464 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

party, should go on, and that the other two members 
should remain where they were until spring. Accord- 
ingly, Franklin, accompanied by Back and Hepburn, 
started on the i8th of January and arrived at Fort Chipe- 
wyan, a station at the northwestern shore of Athabasca 
Lake, near the end of March. This point was about 
eight hundred and fifty miles from the one at which they 
had left the remainder of their party. The journey was 
tedious and dangerous. While walking, they were obliged 
to wear snow-shoes. These weighed two or three pounds 
each and made the wearer feel that he was dragging " a 
galling and stubborn weight at his feet." The cold was 
intense ; but as the mercury froze in the bulbs of the ther- 
mometers, its degree could not be measured. The difH- 
culties of the situation were increased by a scarcity of 
provisions, and terrible suffering was experienced before 
the destination of the party was reached. 

At Fort Chipewyan Franklin and his companions re- 
mained until July, when they were joined by Hood and 
Dr. Richardson, who had been left at Cumberland House. 
Other stations had been communicated with, and nearly 
twenty Indians and Canadian boatmen had been engaged 
to assist in the expedition. A little after the middle of 
July the party started, in hope of reaching the mouth of 
the Coppermine River before going into winter quarters. 
But the greatest exertions were unavailing ; and on reach- 
ing a point some five hundred and fifty miles from Fort 
Chipewyan they selected a spot on the bank of a frozen 
river, where they erected a hut to which they gave the 
name of Fort Enterprise. Here the party killed a large 
number of reindeer and prepared for future use the meat 
that was not required for immediate consumption. Two 



INTEREST RENEWED 465 

trips were made, one in a canoe and the other, by Frank- 
lin and Dr. Richardson, on land, in order to determine 
the distance to the Coppermine River. This proved to 
be about eighty miles. Both parties returned in safety, 
but they had endured great suffering from cold and want 
of food. 

It soon became apparent that a sufficient quantity of 
game could not be obtained to supply the company with 
food during the long winter that was then setting in, and 
Back proposed to lead a company to some of the stations 
that had been passed, even to Fort Chipewyan if neces- 
sary, and hasten the delivery of provisions that had been 
sent up from Cumberland House. This journey, which 
was marked by extreme privations and attended by great 
dangers of various kinds, occupied, with the return trip, 
nearly five months. During this time Back had walked 
more than eleven hundred miles. The winter was exceed- 
ingly cold, and at one time the thermometer indicated 57° 
below zero. Even the trees were frozen through, and in 
trying to cut them nearly all the axes were broken. In 
December the food supplies got very low, and great anxi- 
ety was felt on this account ; but about the middle of Jan- 
uary a quantity of provisions sufficient for more than two 
months was received from one of the other stations. With 
the opening of spring reindeer appeared, and danger from 
starvation was passed for a few months, at least. 

As the weather grew milder, preparations for the on- 
ward journey were begun. Before the camp was broken 
arrangements were made with an Indian chief, who had 
been with them for some time, to bring a supply of pro- 
visions to the fort before September, in order that, if they 
returned that way, they would not be in want of food for 
30 



466 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

the next winter. Early in June the first party, led by Dr. 
Richardson, started. On the 14th of the month Franklin 
and the remainder of the force left the fort, taking with 
them three canoes, which were drawn over the snow and 
ice by men and dogs. Travelling was difficult and provi- 
sions were scanty. Several of the men became lame, and 
in order to lighten the load one of the canoes was left 
on the way. Franklin and some of his companions fell 
through the ice and narrowly escaped being drowned. 
On the ist of July the Coppermine River was reached 
and the canoes were launched upon its waters. Naviga- 
tion was difficult and perilous ; but on the i8th of the 
month the mouth of the river was reached, and a great 
polar sea stretched out before them. On the way they 
had secured some salmon, and also killed several musk 
oxen, but even with these additions their stock of provi- 
sions was small. The distance travelled from Fort Enter- 
prise to this point was three hundred and thirty-four miles. 
For more than one third of this distance it had been ne- 
cessary to drag the canoes and baggage over the snow and 
ice. Yet after all the time they had spent, the sufferings 
they had endured, and the dangers they had encountered, 
they had only reached what, when the main purpose of 
the work was considered, was the real starting-point of the 
expedition. 

After a brief stop at the mouth of the river the party of 
twenty men, in two canoes and with provisions for only 
fifteen days, started toward the east. For four days they 
kept near the coast. This had considerable vegetation, 
and the water was comparatively free from ice. They 
then came to a rugged point which they doubled. In a 
short time they were hemmed in by the ice, in which they 



INTEREST RENE WED 467 

were detained for several days. Some of the men went 
on shore and succeeded in kilHng a few deer to eke out 
their scanty supply of provisions. As soon as possible the 
voyage was renewed. Cape Kater was rounded, and the 
canoes passed into the open sound. An exploring party 
was sent on shore, in hope that an Eskimo village could 
be found ; but the spot was too barren to be inhabited 
even by the hardy natives of the polar regions. 

Passing along the coast, they came, on the loth of Au- 
gust, to open water, which, to their great disappointment, 
they found was only a large bay. This was named after 
Lord Melville. They were still far from Repulse Bay, 
which they had hoped to reach. Their canoes were in 
bad condition, their stock of provisions was almost ex- 
hausted, but little game could be secured, and the rapid 
approach of the terrible Arctic winter was heralded by 
unmistakable tokens. A long distance had been travelled, 
but the route was circuitous and the extreme point reached 
was in latitude 68° 30'. A headland on the shore of the 
bay was named Point Turnagain. Here the effort to con- 
tinue explorations was abandoned, and it was decided to 
return to Fort Enterprise. 

The lateness of the season made it impossible to return 
by the way they came. In order to shorten the distance 
and diminish the danger, it was thought best to pass for 
some distance up Hood's River, which they had recently 
discovered, and then proceed overland in as direct a 
course as possible. They halted at a magnificent cataract, 
which they named Wilberforce Falls. This point was 
about one hundred and fifty miles from Fort Enterprise. 
Here, in order that they might be more easily carried, two 
small canoes were made from the larger ones which they 



468 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

had used thus far. Other preparations for the overland 
trip were completed, and on the ist of September the 
party set out on what proved to be one of the most 
terrible journeys of which there is either record or tradi- 
tion. 

The party had proceeded only about twelve miles when 
they were overtaken by a heavy snow-storm and compelled 
to halt for two days. They covered themselves with their 
blankets, but could obtain neither fuel nor food. When 
the storm abated they renewed their journey, which was 
rendered still more difficult by the snow which had just 
fallen. The boatmen complained of the labor of carry- 
ing the canoes, and, after a time, either through accident 
or design, allowed one of them to be broken by a fall. 
As it was injured beyond repair, this canoe was used for 
fuel. Intense suffering made these men utterly reckless. 
In spite of all that the leaders could say, they abandoned 
the other canoe, and even threw away their fishing-lines. 
For three weeks the party made what progress they could 
through a most desolate region. They not only suffered 
from cold and weariness and weakness, but most of the 
time they were on the verge of starvation. For days at a 
time they had no food except a nauseous and almost indi- 
gestible species of lichen, and they were even reduced to 
the extremity of eating their old shoes. At length they 
reached the Coppermine River, but it was several days 
before they could construct a raft upon which they were 
able to cross. As some of the men were too weak and ill 
to proceed, the party was compelled to divide. Several of 
the boatmen perished from hunger and exposure, and 
Hood was murdered by one of the Indians. - -~ 

Back was the first to reach the fort. Instead of find- 



INTEREST RENEWED 469 

ing a supply of provisions, as had been promised, the 
building was empty. Leaving a note stating that he had 
gone in search of the Indians who had been depended 
upon to furnish supplies, he continued his toilsome jour- 
ney. Franklin and five companions reached the desolate 
fort on the nth of October, and nearly three weeks later 
Dr. Richardson and Hepburn arrived. Old skins, bones, 
and lichens were used for food until the 7th of November, 
when some Indians, who had been sent by Back, brought 
a quantity of provisions. About a week later the journey 
was resumed. Fort Chipewyan was reached in safety, and 
here the party remained until the following June. The 
next month they reached York Factory, and the difficul- 
ties and dangers of their most remarkable journey were at 
an end. 

The fact that Parry had failed to discover the North- 
west Passage was not regarded as proof that it did not 
exist. Neither did it diminish confidence in the zeal or 
the competence of the commander himself. So when he 
expressed an opinion that by commencing explorations at 
a lower latitude the desired opening could be found, the 
government placed him in command of another expedi- 
tion. 

In May, 182 1, with two ships and a transport loaded 
with provisions and other necessities, Parry again set sail 
from England. The entrance to Hudson Strait was 
reached early in July. At this point the transport was 
unloaded and sent home. Strong currents were soon 
encountered, and the ships narrowly escaped destruction 
by enormous icebergs. In September Repulse Fay was 
reached, and found to be clear of ice. Leaving the bay, 
Parry proceeded, in accordance with. his. instructions,, to 



470 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

explore the coast line. This work was continued, under 
many difficulties, until it became imperative to seek 
winter quarters. These were found on the shore of a 
small island, and the ships were soon fast in ice. Here 
Parry adopted the same means for keeping his men cheer- 
ful and contented that had been tried on his previous 
voyage, and with an equal degree of success. A party of 
Eskimos living near by made frequent trips to the vessels, 
and the officers also visited the snow huts of these peculiar 
people. 

It was not till the 8th of July that the expedition was 
able to proceed, and even then it was necessary to do a 
great amount of work in getting the ships out of the ice. 
A little more than a week later they approached an 
elevated region which they hoped would prove to be the 
northern shore of the strait ; but when its entrance was 
reached they were greatly disappointed to find an impass- 
able barrier of ice. After waiting nearly four weeks 
in hope that an opening would be made, it was decided 
to take observations on land. A party proceeded to the 
northern point of the peninsula near which their progress 
by water had been checked, and discovered a strait in 
which there was a strong current and considerable loose 
ice. Returning to the ship, an effort was niade to reach 
this strait, but it proved unsuccessful. In this neighbor- 
hood another winter was spent, and the ships were not 
again afloat until past the middle of August. Several of 
the crew had become ill, and Parry reluctantly sailed for 
England. 

Soon after reaching home Parry had a dangerous ill- 
ness; but in 1824 he was ready to take up his work again, 
and was ,senl out, wiih .the two ships used on the' voyage 



INTEREST RENE WED 47 r 

just described, to explore Prince Regent's Inlet, in hope 
that it would lead to an open sea. The expedition left 
England in May, and, after encountering many dangers, 
arrived late in September at the point where they had 
been compelled to halt in 18 19. Near here a harbor, 
which was named Port Bowen, was found, and Parry 
made preparations to pass his fourth winter in the Arctic 
regions. It was a dreary season, and in some respects 
proved even more tedious than any of its predecessors. 
On the 1 8th of July the ships were again free and the 
voyage was resumed. In a short time large bodies of ice 
were encountered, and one of the ships was so badly in- 
jured that it had to be abandoned. The crew was taken 
on board the- other ship, which at once returned to Eng- 
land. 

Three other expeditions were sent from England at 
about the time that Parry started for Prince Regent's 
Inlet. Of these, one was commanded by Captain Lyon, 
who was instructed to make a more thorough survey than 
had yet been attempted of the coast as far as Point Turn- 
again. Another was led by Franklin, with orders to pass 
down the Mackenzie River to the sea, and then proceed 
along the coast to Bering Strait. The other was com- 
manded by Captain Beechey, who was to pass around 
Cape Horn, proceed to Bering Strait, and continue his 
voyage to Kotzebue Sound, where he was to meet the 
expedition led by Franklin. The results of this combined 
effort were very meagre. Captain Lyon was overtaken 
by storms and encountered vast drifts of ice, and when 
some eighty miles distant from Repulse Bay was obliged 
to give up the enterprise. Franklin and his party passed 
the winter at Great Bear Lake. In the spring they sailed 



472 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

down the Mackenzie River to the point where it separates 
into different channels. The party then divided. One 
detachment, under Dr. Richardson, passed to the east, 
in order to explore the coast as far as the Coppermine 
River. The other, led by Franklin, went to the west, in 
hope of reaching Icy Cape and meeting Captain Beechey. 
The former party accomplished its purpose with but little 
difficulty, and, returning, reached their winter quarters on 
the ist of September. They saw a large number of birds 
of various kinds, and at one point were greatly annoyed 
by mosquitoes. 

Franklin and his party had a much severer experience. 
Unfriendly Eskimos made them much trouble, and they 
were delayed by fogs and storms. By the middle of 
August the cold had become severe and the men were 
suffering greatly from weariness and exposure. It was 
therefore necessary that they at once return to the house 
at Great Bear Lake. The extreme point reached was 
named Return Reef. It was afterward learned that Cap- 
tain Beechey was then only one hundred and fifty miles 
away. The second winter was passed at the lake. It 
proved very severe. At one time the temperature was 
58° below zero. With the approach of mild weather the 
party returned to England. During the summer the ship 
under Captain Beechey reached the appointed place and 
remained as long as the weather would permit ; but as they 
had already returned to England, no trace of Franklin 
and his companions could be found. 

Although he had been repeatedly bafBed in his Arctic 
expeditions, Parry was not discouraged. Scoresby had 
suggested that by constructing boats in such a manner 
that they could also be used as sledges, it might be passi- 



INTEREST RENEWED 473 

ble to reach the Pole by passing over the ice. Parry 
accepted this idea and presented it to the attention of the 
government officers. It met their approval and was 
promptly put into execution. Two boats were built; and 
with the Hecla, one of the ships which he had previously 
commanded, Parry set out on his fourth expedition. 

In 1827 the ship was sailed to the north coast of Spitz- 
bergen, where it was left in a safe harbor. On the 2 2d 
of June the men took to the boats. Three days later 
they reached the ice, but it proved to be very rough and 
was intersected by numerous channels. Progress was 
extremely slow and toilsome. Rains were frequent and 
there were heavy falls of snow. Dense fogs caused many 
delays. At length, finding that they were being carried 
south by the drifting of the ice in the water, faster than 
they were proceeding north on its surface, it was decided 
to return to the ship. This was only one hundred and 
seventy -two miles distant, although they had actually 
travelled two hundred and ninety-two miles. The most 
northern point reached w^as 82° 45', which, so far as was 
certainly known, was the highest latitude that had then 
been reached by man. 

In 1829 Sir John Ross, whose voyage in 1818 had 
been so barren of results and had brought upon himself 
not a little adverse criticism, proceeded to the polar re- 
gions in a small steamship that had been placed at his 
disposal for this purpose by his friend Sir Felix Booth. 
This ship, named the Victory, was commanded by James 
Clark Ross, a nephew of Sir John. It was the first 
steamer ever used in Arctic exploration. Lancaster 
Sound was reached in August. The voyage was con- 
tinued to what is known as the Gulf of Boothia. Here 



474 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

a sheltered position was found, which was named Fehx 
Harbor, where winter quarters were taken. When spring 
opened, various land journeys were made. Not until 
September did the ship get afloat, and it had proceeded 
only about three miles when it again became entangled 
in the ice. Here it remained until the following Au- 
gust. On the 28th of the month the ship was again free. 
But the wind soon arose, the weather suddenly becarne 
cold, and when they had sailed only four miles they were 
once more firmly surrounded by ice. Here they remained 
till the spring, when, on account of the failing health of 
the men, the small quantity of provisions on hand, and the 
great uncertainty as to when a free passage through the 
ice could be found, it was resolved to abandon the ship. 

After a wearisome and dangerous journey the party 
reached the spot where the Fury had been wrecked in 
Parry's third voyage. Here they found a quantity of 
provisions that had been saved from the ship, and here 
they passed a most miserable winter. There was great 
suffering from cold and illness, and several of the men 
died. Early in the summer of 1833 the survivors re- 
sumed their journey. About the middle of August open 
water was reached, and the party took to their boats. 
Twelve days later two ships were sighted. On one of 
these their signals of distress were observed. This ship 
proved to be the Isabella, which Ross himself had once 
commanded. The weary explorers were taken on board 
and given every possible means of comfort. On the iSth 
of October the rescued party, all of whom had long 
before been given up for dead, arrived at England. The 
principal result of this expedition was the reaching and 
determining of the exact location of the North Magnetic 



INTEREST RENEWED 475 

Pole. This was accomplished by James Ross, in April, 
1832. 

As year after year passed and no tidings from Ross 
were received in England, great anxiety was felt for his 
safety. A fund was raised in order to fit out an expedi- 
tion to search for him, and, if he could be found, give him 
needed relief. The government aided the movement ; 
and Back, who had accompanied Franklin to the north 
and had since been promoted captain, was placed in 
command. In February, 1833, he sailed from England. 
With his party he reached Fort Chipewyan on the 29th 
of July, and about a fortnight later arrived at a station on 
Great Slave Lake. Here two pa,rties were formed to 
explore the region, in hope of finding a navigable river 
upon which the journey could be continued. On the 
approach of cold weather they returned to the lake, 
where a house, which they named Fort Reliance, was 
built, and where they passed the winter. 

The season proved to be terribly severe. On the 1 7th 
of January the thermometer registered 70° below zero. 
Food was scanty and it was impossible to secure fish or 
game at that time. A large number of Indians flocked 
to the house ; and though a little food was distributed 
among them, many perished from hunger. On the 25th 
of April the party were greatly cheered by the arrival of a 
messenger with the news that Ross had reached England 
in safety. This left them free to make further explora- 
tions, which was, indeed, a secondary object of the expe- 
dition. On the 7th of June the house was closed, and 
the party proceeded to the Great Fish River, which has 
since been named after Back, of which they made a care- 
ful examination. After an absence of about four months 



476 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

they returned to Fort Reliance, where they passed 
another winter. In the following March the homeward 
trip was commenced, and in September the party arrived 
in England. 

In 1836 the British Government equipped another ex- 
pedition to continue the exploration of some of the coast 
lines that had been partially surveyed. Back was placed 
in command of the ship Terror^ on which he sailed in 
June. The party was doomed to disappointment. They 
hoped to winter in Repulse Bay ; but before reaching that 
point they encountered a violent storm, by which they 
were driven back for quite a distance, and ere long the 
ship was caught in a mass of ice. Much of the time 
they were driven by the wind, or carried by the current, 
with the great body of ice in which they were wedged as 
in an enormous vise, and they were often in imminent 
danger of destruction. 

The ship did not get free until nearly the middle of 
July. It had been seriously damaged, and an immediate 
return to England was the only course that could be 
adopted. The trip was made with all possible speed, 
but the ship was in a sinking condition when port was 
reached. Although the expedition had failed, it was not 
from want of skill or effort. This fact was fully recog- 
nized, and soon after reaching home Back was knighted. 
The survey which he was unable to make was completed 
the following year by Dease and Simpson, who were sent 
out by the Hudson Bay Company, and who made exten- 
sive explorations of the coast of Boothia and Victoria 
Land. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

HEROIC ENDEAVORS 

The next expedition to the Arctic seas left England on 
the 26th of May, 1845. The government had fitted out 
two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, in the best possi- 
ble manner, and also provided a transport, with a cargo of 
food supplies and general stores, to accompany them as 
far as Davis Strait. The Erebus was commanded by Sir 
John Franklin, who was chief officer of the expedition, 
and the Terror, by Captain Richard Crozier. The com- 
bined crews numbered one hundred and thirty-eight men. 
The object of this expedition, as defined by the govern- 
ment officers, was " the accomplishment of a northwest 
passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean," 
and very minute instructions were given as to the course 
which was to be pursued. The ships and transport 
arrived safely at Davis Strait. Here the latter was un- 
loaded and at once returned to England. The two ships 
then went on their way. On the 26th of July, 1845, they 
were seen by a whaling vessel named the Prhice of 
Wales, They were then near the middle of Baffin Bay, 
waiting for an opening in the ice, which had blocked their 
way. From that time they were seen by white men no 
more. 

It was expected that about two years would pass after 
the ice fields were reached before word could be received 
from the explorers. When this period had elapsed and 



478 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

nothing was heard from the party, their friends in Eng- 
land began to fear that some disaster had befallen the 
expedition. As weeks and months went by, leaving the 
silence unbroken, the feeling of apprehension deepened. 
In 1848 the British Government sent out three expedi- 
tions in search of the missing explorers. Of these, one 
was to attempt to reach the Polar Sea by way of Bering 
Strait, one was to pass down the Mackenzie River to 
the sea and then follow the coast to the Coppermine 
River, while the other was directed to pass through Lan- 
caster Sound and Barrow Strait. Two ships were fitted 
out for the expedition first named. They were the 
Herald and the Plover, under Captain Henry Kellett and 
Com.mander Thomas E. L. Moore. The second was led 
by Dr., now Sir John Richardson, who was accompanied by 
Dr. John Rae, who had already won fame as an explorer 
in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. The third 
was under Sir James Clark Ross and Captain E. J. Bird, 
with two large ships named the Enterprise and the Investi- 
gator. Full directions were given to each of these parties; 
and as all points that Franklin was at all likely to reach 
were to be visited, it was hoped and believed that this 
united effort would speedily be crowned with success. The 
expeditions made some valuable additions to the know- 
ledge of the regions which they visited, but as far as their 
principal object was concerned they were utter failures. 

In 1849 the British Government offered a reward of 
^20,000 to private persons, of any nationality, who should 
discover and rescue the missing explorers. This, together 
with a deep interest in the fate of Franklin, led to the 
formation of numerous parties to prosecute the search. 
Lady Franklin also provided means for sending men and 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 



479 




HENRY GRIN.NELL 



vessels to aid in the work. In 1850 there were at least 
twelve ships, besides boat and sledge parties, engaged in 
the enterprise. 

Among the expeditions was one from the United 
States. This was mainly fitted out by Henry Grinnell, a 
New York merchant, but it was under government con- 
trol. It was commanded by Lieutenant De Haven, who 
had seen service in an exploring expedition in the Ant- 
arctic regions. Two ships, the Advance and the Rescue, 
were furnished. They left New York on the 24th of 
May, 1850. The plan proposed was to proceed to Mel- 
ville Island, pass the winter wherever they were caught 
in the ice, and then follow whatever course should seem 
most likely to lead to success. 



48 o EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

The ships of several of these expeditions came near 
each other in Baffin Bay. At this point they were long 
delayed and were often in extreme peril from enormous 
masses of floating ice. Some of the best ships spent five 
weeks in sailing northward only thirty miles. When the 
course became more open the ships parted company, 
going in different directions in order to make the search 
as thorough as possible. 

On the 23d of August, 1850, the first trace of the 
missing party was found. This was at Cape Riley, where 
the crew of a boat from the British ship Assistance 
landed. Several articles were found which had evidently 
belonged to Europeans, but they could not be identified 
with the Franklin party. This was followed by a trip to 
Beechey Island, about three miles distant. Here was 
discovered the spot where Franklin spent the winter of 
1845-46. The graves of three men who had died during 
that season were also found. These were marked by oak 
boards upon which the names and ages of the deceased 
had been inscribed. Careful search was made by parties 
from three of the vessels which were near the island, but 
nothing could be found to indicate in what direction 
Franklin intended to proceed when he left the camp. It 
was ascertained, however, that during the winter his ships 
had been fast in the ice a little south of Beechey Island. 

About the middle of September the vessels engaged in 
the search were ice-bound, and the work was necessarily 
suspended. When spring opened sledging expeditions 
were formed to prosecute the search on land. Twelve 
parties were organized. One of these, under Lieutenant 
McClintock, travelled seven hundred and sixty miles. 
The others covered lesser distances. Great suffering was 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 481 

experienced from cold and fatigue, and one of the men 
died from exhaustion. One of the parties reached the 
spot where Parry had encamped in 1820, and another dis- 
covered a wide strait of open water, which was named 
Victoria Channel, but no trace of Franklin or his men 
was found. 

Although the numerous expeditions which had been 
sent out were utter failures as far as the accomplishment 
of their main purpose was concerned, some very impor- 
tant results in other lines were secured. The most notice- 
able of these was the discovery by Captain, afterward 
Sir Robert McClure, commander of the British ship In- 
vestigator^ of the Northwest Passage. This great event 
occurred on the 26th of October, 1850. -Year after year 
expeditions followed the ones which have been named. 
Several ships were lost. Heroic efforts were made by 
officers and men, and terrible sufferings were endured, 
but the mystery regarding the fate of Franklin was not 
dispelled. 

In 1853 Mr. Grinnell, aided by several individuals and 
organizations, fitted out his second expedition to the 
Arctic regions. The ship, which was named the Ad- 
vance, was commanded by Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, who 
had accompanied Lieutenant De Haven in the first Grin- 
nell expedition. With eighteen men he sailed from New 
York on the 30th of May, intending to pass as far north 
as possible in Baffin Bay, and thence proceed, with sledges 
and boats, on land and water in such direction as should 
give the greatest hope of success. After reaching Mel- 
ville Bay there was great difficulty and danger on ac- 
count of fogs and ice. At Littleton Island a quantity 
of provisions were stored, to be used, in case of necessity, 
31 



482 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPIORATIONS 

on the return trip. Although the region was dreary and 
desolate in the extreme, abundant evidences were found 
that it had once been the seat of an Eskimo settlement. 

As winter approached, the ship was brought to a 
sheltered place, which was named Van Rensselaer Harbor, 
where it became fast in the ice on the loth of September. 
Sledging parties were sent out for the double purpose of 
establishing depots for provisions and for making explora- 
tions. This work could not be continued after the 20th 
of November, as the sun then passed below the horizon 
to remain for one hundred and twenty days. The winter 
was extremely severe. The temperature was often 40°, 
and at one time dropped to 75°, below zero. Most of the 
dogs, of which a large number had been procured for 
sledging purposes, died from brain disease caused by the 
depressing influences of intense cold and continuous dark- 
ness. Many of the men suffered severely from scurvy, 
and the others were greatly debilitated by their close con- 
finement and the hardships which they had endured. 

On the return of the sun, sledging parties were formed 
and the work of exploration was resumed. These jour- 
neys proved extremely diflicult Two of the men died as 
the result of exposure and privations, and Kane had an 
illness that for several days seemed likely to prove fatal. 
A latitude of 82° 27' was reached, and a coast line was 
mapped which extended nine hundred and sixty miles. 
To complete this work involved not less than two thou- 
sand miles of walking and sledge travel. Among the dis- 
coveries which were made were a magnificent column of 
greenstone, four hundred and eighty feet high, rising on 
a pedestal which itself towered two hundred and eighty 
feet above the ground, which was called Tennyson's 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 



483 




A I J) /;K '"" 
DR. E. K. KANE 



Monument; and an enormous wall of ice, three hundred 
feet in height, which was named the Great Glacier of 
Humboldt. The party carried its explorations to Cape 
Constitution, in latitude 82° 27'. A lofty peak on the 
opposite coast of Grinnell Land was named Mount Ed- 
ward Parry. 

At this time the summer was well advanced, but there 
were no indications that the ship would get clear of the 
ice. The stock of provisions was small, and the health of 
the party had become greatly impaired. A careful con- 



484 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

sideration of the subject showed that it would be ex- 
tremely hazardous to attempt to pass another winter in 
the ship. Therefore Dr. Kane resolved to make an at- 
tempt to communicate with some English ships, belonging 
to a searching expedition, which were lying off Beechey 
Island. With five of the strongest men he started in an 
open boat, but a terrible storm was encountered, and in 
spite of their most earnest efforts to force a passage, the 
ice presented a barrier which they could not break 
through. They returned to the ship, intending to hoist 
signals that would bring to their aid other explorers, if 
there were any in that region. 

On consulting with his men. Dr. Kane found that some 
of them believed it would be possible to escape overland 
to the nearest Danish colony. He then gave each and all 
the choice of making such an attempt or of remaining 
with him in the ship. Nine of the men preferred to go. 
The remainder, more wisely as it proved, decided to stay 
with their commander. After enduring the most terrible 
sufferings, those who had left found their way back to the 
vessel. 

About seventy-five miles distant from the ship was an 
Eskimo village. The inhabitants were friendly to the 
weather-bound explorers. For a time communication was 
kept up, and some food supplies were obtained ; but with 
the coming of continued darkness, and a great scarcity of 
meat at the settlement, this source of relief was cut off. 
By March all the men were suffering from scurvy, and 
more than half of the number were seriously ill. The 
supply of fuel was exhausted, and lamps were used for 
both light and heat. Everything in the ship was turned 
black with soot. Two of the men became desperate and 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 4&5 

attempted to desert. One of these was successful, but he 
seems to have repented, as he afterward returned with 
some food that he had obtained from the Eskimos. 

Before spring had fairly come, preparations were com- 
menced for abandoning the ship. The three boats were 
repaired, sledges were put in order, and a supply of cloth- 
ing and bedding was got in readiness for use. On the 
1 7th of May, after the reading of prayers and the Scrip- 
tures, the flags were hoisted and hauled down. Then the 
seventeen survivors of the party, four of whom were too 
ill to walk alone, started to cross the ice and water which, 
for thirteen hundred miles, lay between them and the 
north of Greenland. 

For nearly a week the party was able to proceed only a 
little more than a mile per day. Early in June one of the 
men met with an accident which, a few days later, resulted 
in his death. Various Eskimo settlements were visited, 
and at some of them the supply of provisions was replen- 
ished. On many occasions it was necessary to halt for 
rest. Various accidents occurred, and difficulty and dan- 
ger were the constant companions of the weak and weary 
party. At length, to their great relief, open water was 
reached, and on the 19th of June they took to their boats, 
one of which was soon swamped. It was a fearful voyage. 
Hunger, cold, weariness, and exposure to storms brought 
terrible sufferings. After being in the open air of an 
Arctic climate for eighty-four days, the party reached Up- 
ernavik, the seat of a Danish colony on an island off the 
coast of Greenland. Here they remained until the 6th of 
September, when they embarked on a ship bound for the 
Shetland Islands. But at Godhavn an American expedi- 
tion that had come out to search for them was seen, and 



486 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

they were transferred to the ships which had been sent 
for their relief. In October they were safely landed at 
New York. Many important surveys had been made and 
much valuable information concerning the Arctic regions 
had been gained, but not the slightest trace of Franklin 
had been found. 

The long absence of Dr. Kane caused a great deal of 
anxiety in the United States, and in February, 1855, the 
Secretary of the Navy was authorized by Congress to send 
an expedition for his relief. Two ships, the Release and 
the Arctic, were equipped and Lieutenant Hartstene was 
placed in command. Bafifin Bay was reached in due time, 
and a careful search was made at the numerous points 
where it seemed possible that Kane might be detained. 
All efforts to find the missing men proving fruitless, the 
ships were turned toward the south and proceeded to 
Upernavik and thence to Godhavn, on Disco Island, 
where, as already related, the explorers were found. 

Upon his return home, and the publication of his report 
of the voyage. Dr. Kane received many honors, not only 
from his countrymen but also from societies and individ- 
uals in foreign lands. As soon as possible he prepared a 
complete narrative of his Arctic explorations, which was 
published in book form and made him famous as an 
author. His health, which had never been firm, had suf- 
fered from his terrible exposures, and, before his book was 
completed, rapidly failed. In hope of obtaining relief he 
sailed to England ; but his strength declined, and after a 
brief visit he started for home by way of Havana, but died 
in that city, in February, 1857, at the early age of thirty- 
seven years. 

The numerous maritime expeditions that were sent out 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 487 

to discover Franklin were supplemented by diligent and 
extended search on land. Dr. Rae, who had not only 
seen a great deal of service, but had won popular recogni- 
tion as an expert in this field, spent several years in this 
arduous work. In 1854 he met a band of Eskimos who 
told him about a party of some forty men who had starved 
to death at a place far west of where they then were. 
Four winters had passed since this sad event occurred. 
The men were drawing sledges and a boat over the ice. 
Their language could not be understood ; but from signs 
which they made the Eskimos believed that their ships 
had been wrecked, that their provisions were scanty, and 
that they were going toward the south in hope of finding 
game on which they could subsist. Later in the same 
year several graves were found, and also the bodies of 
about thirty persons which had not been buried. These 
were on the mainland. On an island, not far away, five 
other bodies were found. Some of the bodies were in 
tents, some on the open ground, and others under a boat 
that had been placed so as to form a shelter from storms. 
Dr. Rae purchased of the Eskimos a large number of arti- 
cles that had belonged to the party and that completely 
identified the men who had so miserably perished as mem- 
bers of the Franklin expedition. He at once proceeded 
to England, and, with his men, received the reward of 
^10,000 which had been offered to those who first should 
give definite information regarding the fate of the Frank- 
lin party. 

The report of Dr. Rae caused a very general feeling in 
England that no member of the Franklin expedition could 
be living, and the British Government declined to risk 
more lives or expend more money for a further search. 



488 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

Lady Franklin, however, with the assistance of a few 
friends, fitted out a vessel, called the Fox, of which the 
experienced explorer Captain McClintock w^as placed in 
command. The officers and men numbered twenty-five„ 
The ship sailed from Scotland in July, 1857, was caught 
in ice in Melville Bay on the i8th of August, and drifted 
until late in April, 1858. Beechey Island was reached on 
the nth of August, and a marble tablet, that had been 
sent out by Lady Franklin, was erected at the graves of 
the men who had died at that place. 

The second winter was passed in a haven at the eastern 
entrance of Bellot Strait. Early in the spring journeys 
were made to establish depots of provisions. Natives 
were met with who said that many years before a ship had 
been broken up by the ice, that the crew had escaped, had 
gone toward the Great Fish River, and all had died of 
starvation. 

On the 2d of April, 1859, the spring journey com- 
menced. From a party of natives news was obtained of 
a second ship that had drifted on shore, and several relics 
were purchased. The explorers divided into two parties, 
one led by Lieutenant Hobson, the other by Captain 
McClintock. On the 6th of May Hobson found written 
records of the Franklin expedition. The first entry was 
dated the 28th of May, 1847, and stated that the party 
had passed up Wellington Channel and returned by the 
west side of Cornwallis Island, thus having completed the 
discovery of the Northwest Passage, of w^hich they had 
been in search. They were then in winter quarters and 
all were well. The second entry, dated the 25th of April, 
1848, states that Sir John Franklin died on the nth of 
June, 1847, that eight other officers arid fifteen men Tiad 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 



489 




DR. ISAAC I. HAYES 



died, that having been fast in ice since the 12th of Sep- 
tember, 1846, the ships Erebus and Terror were deserted 
on the 2 2d of April, 1848, and that on the 26th of April 
the survivors would commence a journey in hope of 
reaching Back's Great Fish River. 

Lieutenant Hobson proceeded in the direction indi- 
cated, and found human skeletons, a boat nearly buried in 
the snow, watches, books, and numerous other articles. 
Captain McClintock also reached the boat. In connec- 
tion with what had already been found, these discoveries 
confirmed the statements of Dr. Rae, and proved beyond 
doubt that after leaving the spot where the records were 
found the party attempted to reach the Great Fish River, 



490 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

that many of them died on the way, that some started 
to return to the ship and lost their hves, and that the 
remainder reached the river, but while waiting for the ice 
to break they all perished of exposure and starvation. 
Such was the terrible fate of the first discoverers of the 
Northwest Passage, which had been sought for hundreds 
of years. 

Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who went out as surgeon with the 
second Grinnell expedition, under Dr. Kane, was exceed- 
ingly anxious to prosecute further search in the Arctic 
regions, and endeavored to secure the organization of 
another party, and obtain a suitable equipment for that 
purpose. But the public had come to believe that no 
results could be obtained that would be of sufhcient value 
to justify the risks of life and property that another 
expedition would involve. Yet his zeal was so great, and 
he so forcibly presented his views in lectures which he 
deli\^red in the large cities of the United States, that 
considerable interest was aroused and a sufficient sum of 
money was secured to purchase and fit out a vessel for 
his use. 

In this ship, the name of which was patriotically 
changed from the Spring Hill to the United States, 
Hayes sailed from Boston on the 7th of July, i860. 
The party, all told, numbered fifteen persons. The 
definite objects of the expedition were to extend, and if 
possible complete, the survey of the northern coast of 
Greenland and Grinnell Land, and continue explorations 
in the direction of the North Pole. The Arctic Circle 
was reached near the close of July, and the entrance to 
Smith Sound on the 27th of August; but winds were 
contrary and the ship was driven back three times before 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 491 

it was possible to proceed to any great distance in the 
strait. A harbor, which was named Port Foulke, was 
found about twenty miles south of where Kane wintered 
in Rensselaer Harbor. 

In April, with twelve of his strongest men and a num- 
ber of dogs, Hayes started on a sledge journey, intending 
to cross the sound to Grinnell Land. Twenty-five days 
of ardous toil did not take them half the distance, but it 
utterly disabled several of the men. Unwilling to aban- 
don the project while there was a possibility of success, 
Hayes sent all but three of his men back to the ship. 
The returning party took with them the boat that had 
been taken in hope that it could be launched on an open 
sea. 

With his three companions, two sledges, and fourteen 
dogs, the resolute leader of the expedition pressed on, and 
two weeks after the parties separated he reached the 
land. An exploring trip along the coast was commenced. 
In less than a week one of the men became utterly 
exhausted. With another to care for him, he w^as left 
behind, and Hayes, with a single companion, continued 
his journey. On the i8th of May they reached Mount 
Parry. Here their progress was checked by rotten ice 
and fissures which could not be crossed without a boat. 
Observations were taken which showed that they were in 
latitude 81° 35^, a higher point than any previous ex- 
plorer had reached on land. 

The return journey was extremely difficult, but the ship 
was reached on the 3d of June. During his absence 
from the harbor Hayes had travelled thirteen hundred 
miles. In July the vessel was free from ice. Plans had 
been formed to sail to Grinnell Sound, in order to make 



492 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

further explorations, but it was found that such injuries 
had been sustained during the winter that the vessel 
would not be safe among floating masses of ice. There- 
fore the party returned to Boston. Only one man had 
been lost, and his death was due to an accident. 

In the year i860, Charles Francis Hall, who from boy- 
hood had been deeply interested in the fate of Franklin, 
and had been a close student of the literature pertain- 
ing to the Arctic regions, sailed from New London, 
Connecticut, in a whaling vessel, for the north. A boat 
which had been specially fitted for his use was taken 
along. His plan was to stop at some suitable point, 
organize a crew of Eskimos, and prosecute a search for 
members of the Franklin expedition, some of whom he 
believed had reached native settlements and were still 
living. He also desired to survey some portions of the 
region which was as yet unexplored. Search for the 
Franklin party was prevented by the loss of the boat 
soon after his arrival ; but he found various relics of the 
Frobisher expedition, and learned that the body of water 
which for nearly three centuries had been known as 
Frobisher Strait was actually a bay. In September, 
1862, he reached New London in a whaling vessel. 
With him he took two Eskimos, or Innuits, Joe and 
Hannah, with their little child. The latter was soon 
taken ill and died. 

In 1864 Hall sailed again, with his Innuit companions, 
to the north. He had acquired considerable knowledge 
of the Eskimo language and customs. His plan was to 
live with these people two or three years, gain their confi- 
dence, and then secure their assistance in exploring all 
the region in which survivors of the Franklin party, if 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 



493 





such there were, would be at all likely to be found. This 
expedition covered a period of five years. The greatest 
efforts were made to learn the truth regarding the missing 
explorers. For a long time Hall was very hopeful of find- 
ing some of them alive, but at length he was forced to 
the conclusion that the last of that ill-fated party had 
perished several years before. 

In 1869 Hall reached home and was received with 



494 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

great honors. He then made a vigorous effort to secure 
an expedition for the purpose of discovering the North 
Pole. A orreat deal of interest was excited. Congress 
made an appropriation for the purpose, and a steamer 
named the Polaris was fitted out. Hall was appointed 
commander of the expedition. A scientific corps, to take 
observations in accordance with instructions from the 
National Academy of Sciences, was selected. A full 
complement of officers was chosen, and a crew of fourteen 
men was secured. Joe and Hannah, the Innuits who had 
previously accompanied Hall and had rendered him in- 
valuable services, were also members of this expedition. 

On the afternoon of the 3d of July, 1871, the Polaris 
sailed from New London, Connecticut, on her final voy- 
age. Smith Sound was reached without special adven- 
ture. Passing through Kennedy Channel, the vessel 
entered what Kane had supposed was an open sea, but 
which proved to be only a small body of water. This 
received the name of Polaris Bay. Farther on a strait 
was discovered which, in honor of the Secretary of the 
Navy who had used his influence in aid of the expedi- 
tion, was named Robeson Channel. In this strait a 
latitude of 82° 16' was reached on the 30th of August. 
This was the highest latitude yet reached. It was fifty 
miles beyond the farthest point touched by Dr. Hayes, 
and nearly two hundred miles beyond where Dr. Kane 
had gone. Here progress was checked by ice, and for 
a while the ship was carried back by the drift. Hall and 
some of his men were anxious to make further efforts to 
proceed, but some of the subordinates were opposed to 
this course; and the commander, as it subsequently ap- 
peared, unwisely heeded their protests. On September 3 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 495 

the ship was put into winter quarters in Polaris Bay, in 
a cove to which Hall gave the name of Thank God 
Harbor. 

On the loth of October, Hall, with three companions, 
started on a sledge journey for the purpose of exploring 
the adjoining region and selecting the most favorable 
route for the expedition to the Pole, which he intended 
to make in the spring. The ordinary difficulties of 
travelling in that region were encountered, but the party 
returned in safety, reaching the ship on the 24th of Octo- 
ber. They had attained the highest latitude yet reached, 
and discovered a channel which they expected to utilize 
when the northward journey should be resumed. Soon 
after reaching the ship Hall was taken ill, and on the 8th 
of November he passed away. Thus ended the life of 
one of the noblest and most devoted of Arctic explorers. 

It was rumored that Hall had been poisoned, but a 
thorough investigation by the government proved that he 
died from natural causes. His body was buried on the 
shore of Polaris Bay, and an American flag was placed 
over his grave. 

Captain Buddington, who succeeded to the command 
of the expedition, had little desire for Arctic explorations ; 
and though some short journeys were made, nothing of 
importance was accomplished. Toward the middle of 
August the homeward voyage was commenced. After 
sailing about fifty miles, the vessel was caught in the ice 
and narrowly escaped being wrecked. When free, the 
voyage was resumed, but in a short time a field of float- 
ing ice was entered, with which the ship drifted for a long 
distance. During the night of October 15 a gale drove 
the ice upon her in such a manner as to threaten her 



496 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

immediate destruction. The captain ordered the crew 
to save whatever they could. Provisions, clothing, and 
various other materials were hurriedly thrown upon the 
ice. The Eskimo women and children were taken off, 
and several of the men left the vessel to move the 
goods to as safe a place as could be found. Suddenly the 
ship broke away and disappeared in the darkness, leav- 
ing nineteen persons, men, women, and children, adrift on 
the ice. 

Of some poles and lumber which had been thrown 
from the ship, the party on the ice constructed a rude 
house in which they took up their abode. The stock 
of provisions was small, and, though a few seals and an 
occasional bear were captured, the party were constantly 
on short rations. In addition to the weakness caused by 
insufEcient food, they suffered terribly from the depress- 
ing influence of severe cold, and of darkness, which lasted 
for eighty-one days. Meanwhile the floe upon which 
they were encamped was rapidly drifting toward the 
south. On the nth of March it was broken up by a 
terrific gale. This left the castaways upon a compara- 
tively small piece of ice, as far as area was concerned, but 
fortunately it was of considerable thickness. This, how- 
ever, gradually wasted away; and Captain Tyson, the 
leader of the forlorn party, deemed it imperative that they 
take to their one remaining boat and attempt to reach 
a larger and firmer field of ice. This was safely accom- 
plished, though not without great difficulty and extreme 
danger. Violent storms caused them great suffering and, 
by preventing the capture of seals, brought them to the 
verge of starvation. 

On the 2oth of April the waves swept over the ice and 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 497 

carried away their shelter, together with nearly all the 
articles which they had thus far been able to save. Only 
by the most desperate efforts, continued for twelve hours, 
were they able to keep the boat from being washed away. 
Their condition was now even more pitiable than it had 
previously been ; but as they were nearing the seal-fishing 
grounds they hoped to fall in with a vessel that would 
give them relief. On the 25th of April the ice became 
so insecure that they were obliged to take to the boat. 
A few days later a sealing vessel was seen, but either the 
unfortunate party were not able to attract the attention of 
those on board or else the ship was unable to get through 
the ice which lay between them. After this two other 
vessels were sighted, but the castaways remained unseen. 

On the 30th of April deliverance came. Through a rift 
in the fog a steamer was seen near by. Signals from the 
boat were observed and the vessel went to their relief. 
In a short time the almost famished party was taken on 
board the ship, which proved to be the Tigress, from 
Newfoundland, which was on a cruise for seals. On the 
12th of May the rescued party reached St. John's. The 
government sent a steamer for them, and on the 5 th of 
June the people who had been exposed to so many perils, 
had so many hairbreadth escapes, and endured almost 
unparalleled exposure and privation, arrived at Wash- 
ington. 

When the Polaris was carried away from the ice it had 
fourteen persons on board. Information given by the 
party rescued from the ice led the government to fit and 
send out a vessel to find and rescue the officers and crew 
of the ship that had so suddenly disappeared. On the 
14th of July, 1873, the Tigress, under Captain Greer, 
32 



498 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

sailed from New York on this errand of mercy. She was 
accompanied by the yuniata^ a smaller vessel, which car- 
ried supplies for the Tigress and which was also designed 
to aid in the search. About the middle of August the 
Tigress reached Littleton Island, near which the Polaris 
was last seen by the party that drifted away on the ice. 
Here some Eskimos were found who said that the day 
after the separation occurred Captain Buddington had 
abandoned the ship. With some lumber from the vessel 
the men had built a house on the shore. Here they 
had spent the winter. Two boats were made, and in 
these the company sailed southward in the spring. Dur- 
ing a gale the vessel broke loose from the ice in which it 
had been entangled, and, after drifting for a while, had 
gone down in the sea. Many articles that had been left 
at the winter camp were secured by Captain Greer. 

The Juniata proceeded to Newfoundland and commu- 
nicated the facts to the Navy Department at Washing- 
ton. Instructions to continue the search were returned 
and another voyage was commenced, but news was soon 
received from a British vessel that the crew of the Polaris 
had been found. After the departure of the Juniata 
Captain Greer continued the search, but finding no trace 
of the missing party sailed to New York, where he learned 
that Captain Buddington and his men had been rescued 
by a British whaling vessel about three weeks before the 
relief voyage of the Tigress was commenced. As this 
ship was not homeward bound, the men were transferred 
to other vessels, and by way of Scotland at length reached 
New York. With the exception of their noble leader. 
Captain Hall, every member of the Polaris expedition 
reached home in safety. Many of them had been^rift 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 499 

on floating ice for one hundred and ninety days, and all 
had been exposed to the greatest dangers and had en- 
dured the most terrible hardships. Their preservation 
and rescue may well be classed with the miracles of 
modern times. 

Dr. Petermann, an eminent German geographer, sent 
out a small vessel in 1868 to prosecute exploration in the 
Arctic seas. Captain Koldewey was placed in command. 
The crew numbered eleven men. Great difficulties were 
encountered and only meagre results were obtained. 
Soon after the return of the vessel preparations were made 
to renew the work. Funds were secured, two ships, the 
Germania and the Hansa^ were fitted out, and Captain 
Koldewey was appointed commander. Several noted sci- 
entists accompanied the expedition. The object in view 
was to penetrate to the very centre of the Arctic regions. 

The ships sailed in June. Owing to contrary winds the 
Arctic Circle was not crossed until the 5th of July. On 
the 20th of July, owing to a misinterpretation of signals, 
the ships became separated. Captain Hegemann, of the 
Hansa, sailed away from, instead of proceeding toward, 
the Germania, as Captain Koldewey intended. On the 
14th of September the Hansa was frozen in. The danger 
that she would be crushed appeared so great that a house 
was built upon the ice. This was constructed of a patent 
fuel made principally from coal, in the form of bricks, and 
was held together by a mortar made of water and snow. 
It was twenty feet long, fourteen feet wide, and eight and 
one half feet high at the ridge. 

Early in October there was a heavy fall of snow which 
completely buried both the house and the ship. On the 
19th of the month there was a terrific gale, the pressure 



500 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

of the ice upon the vessel was increased, and a serious 
leak was started. During the night of the 21st of Octo- 
ber the ship went down. A fearful winter was passed in 
the little house. Violent storms were frequent and the 
cold was severe. The great ice field upon which the men 
were located was drifted about at the mercy of wind and 
wave. On the 7th of May a place was reached from 
which there appeared to be an open stretch of water to 
the shore. The boats, which had been saved from the 
ship, were launched, and after almost insuperable obsta- 
cles had been overcome the party reached land. Several 
islands were visited, but it was not until the 14th of June, 
1870, that the weary party reached a human habitation. 
On that date they arrived at Friedrichsthal, a station of 
the Moravian missionaries on the southwestern coast of 
Greenland, and early in September the entire party 
reached home. They had drifted more than eleven hun- 
dred miles on the ice, and had been preserved through a 
more remarkable series of perils and misfortunes than 
almost any other company of Arctic explorers who 
returned to their native land. 

After losing sight of the Hansa, the Germania followed 
the coast of Greenland as far north as latitude 75° 30'', 
but near the middle of August was obliged to turn to the 
south. Winter was passed off Sabine Island. In the 
spring various excursions were made which resulted in 
valuable scientific and geographical discoveries. Before 
the work which they hoped to accomplish was completed, 
a leak" in the engine boiler made it necessary for the party 
to return home. This voyage was completed in Septem- 
ber, 1870. 

In 1872 an A ustro- Hungarian expedition was sent to 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 501 

the Arctic regions. It was commanded by Lieutenant 
Payer, who had not only distinguished himself in the 
German expedition under Captain Koldewey, but who 
had also made extensive explorations on his own account. 
Captain Weyprecht, who had accompanied Payer in his 
previous voyages, was chief ofificer of the ship. The 
steamer Tegetkoff w^s fitted out in the best possible man- 
ner, and Captain Carlsen, an experienced Arctic voyager, 
was employed as pilot. 

On the 14th of July, 1872, the voyage was commenced. 
Fifteen days later the coast of Nova Zembla was seen. 
At about this time ice became troublesome, but the north- 
ern coast of Nova Zembla was rounded in safety. Here 
progress was checked and the ship was soon fast in the 
ice. The dreary Arctic winter now set in. The sun was 
absent one hundred and nine days. As there was danger 
that the ship would be broken by the ice, a hut was built 
in which to take refuge in case such an accident occurred. 
Much of the time the floe in which the vessel was encased 
was adrift and toward the end of October, 1873, it reached 
a point within three miles of an island lying off a main- 
land that had never been explored. Some brief excur- 
sions were made, but the beginning of the Arctic night 
soon made their continuance impossible. 

The party were now in a higher latitude than where 
they passed the preceding winter, and the sun did not 
appear at this point for one hundred and twenty-five days. 
Snow fell to the depth of twelve feet and the cold was 
very severe. In March several expeditions were made 
by sledge parties. During one of these the temperature 
dropped to fifty-eight degrees below zero. One of the 
men died from lung disease aggravated by scurvy. 



502 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

Many of the dogs died and others became so weak as to 
be of httle use in the sledge teams. But in spite of all 
these obstacles considerable was accomplished in the way 
of exploration. One of the sledge parties reached a lati- 
tude of 82° 5^ In honor of their sovereign the leaders of 
the expedition named the country Franz Josef Land. 

There were no indications that the voyage could ever 
be resumed, and the diminished stock of provisions, to- 
gether with the failing health of the men, made it neces- 
sary to desert the ship. On the 20th of May, 1874, the 
flags were nailed to the mast and the men took to the 
sledges, upon which the boats and some provisions had 
been loaded. The deep snow made walking extremely 
difficult, and the wind drove back the ice to such an 
extent that at the close of two months of most arduous 
toil they were less than eight miles from the ship. On 
the 14th of August they came to open water, and four 
days later Nova Zembla was reached. A few days after- 
ward they were taken off by a Russian vessel which 
landed them at Norway on the 3d of September. Al- 
though the explorers did not accomplish all that they 
desired to do, the scientific and geographical results of 
their expedition were of great value. 

From 1858 to 1878 several expeditions to the Arctic 
seas were sent out from Sweden. The expense was 
borne in part by the government, but several individuals 
and societies were large contributors. The earlier expe- 
ditions were principally for scientific purposes. They 
resulted in the securing of a vast amount of information 
concerning the zoology, botany, and geology of the re- 
gions visited. Two of this series of expeditions should 
have special mention in this narrative. They are the 
ones which sailed in 1872 and in 1878. 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 503 

For the expedition of 1872 two steamers and a trans- 
port were furnished. Naval officers had command of the 
ships, but the expedition was under the general direction 
of Professor Nordenskjold, who had made several voyages 
to the North. The steamer Onkel Adam and the trans- 
port Gladan took out moss, coal, oil, fifty reindeer, and 
the parts of a dwelling-house ready to be put together. 
It was designed that these vessels • should return in the 
fall ; while the other steamer, named the Poikem, was to 
remain at the North during the winter. 

The vessels which should have returned before winter 
set in were caught in the ice, and were obliged to remain 
with the Polhem in Mussel Bay, on the northern coast of 
Spitzbergen, This proved a great disaster, as the main- 
tenance of the crews seriously reduced the quantity of 
provisions which had been designed for the party on 
board the exploring vessel. As illustrating the perils of 
the Arctic regions, it may be stated that a number of 
fishing vessels, with fifty-eight men on board, were also 
frozen in at this time off the northern coast. Eighteen 
men took open boats and succeeded in reaching Ice 
Fjord, where a quantity of provisions had been stored. 
Later in the season two of the ships got clear of the ice 
and, with the remaining men on board, sailed for home. 
In November a relief expedition was sent from Norway 
for the fishermen who had left the ships, but, owing to 
severe cold and unfavorable weather, it was unsuccessful. 
Another ship was sent out in December, but was unable 
to reach Spitzbergen. In January, 1873, a third vessel 
was despatched, but the effort to find the missing men 
was a failure. It was afterward learned that the house 
was reached and a quantity of food was found ; but as 



504 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

indicated by a diary which they kept for some time, the 
men did not take regular exercise, and they neglected to 
freshen their meat. As a consequence of these indiscre- 
tions they all fell victims to disease, and the last of the 
party died before the summer opened. 

The scientists connected with the Swedish expedition 
made many important observations; and though all their 
reindeer escaped soon after they were landed, several 
sledge journeys were undertaken with dogs. But while 
it accomplished much in some directions, the expedition 
wholly failed in its principal object of making a journey 
on ice to the Pole. 

The principal object of the expedition of 1878 was 
the discovery of the Northeast Passage. It involved an 
expense of ^20,000, of which sum three fifths was fur- 
nished by Mr. Oscar Dickson, of Gothenburg, and the 
remainder by the Swedish Government. A screw steamer 
named the Vega, which had been built expressly for use 
in the ice regions, was equipped in the best possible man- 
ner, and Professor Nordenskjold, who had accompanied 
not less than eight Arctic expeditions, was placed in 
charge. The whole force, including officers, scientists, 
and crew, numbered only thirty men. 

The steamer sailed on the 21st of July. She was 
accompanied by the Lena, a small steamer which was 
designed for use on the river of that name. Progress 
was slow on account of adverse winds, but Kara Sea was 
reached on the ist of August, and five days later the 
vessels entered Dickson Harbor, near the mouth of the 
Yenisei River. On the loth of August the voyage was 
resumed. The course was unobstructed for only two 
days. Then large masses of ice were encountered, and 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 



505 




A. E. NORDENSKJOLD 



heavy fogs made progress both slow and dangerous. The 
difficulties and dangers of the situation were greatly in- 
creased by the fact that the Taimyr Peninsula lies farther 
to the west than had been supposed, and several small 
islands were discovered in what, according to the then 
existing charts, should have been the direct course on 
which to sail. 

On the 19th of August the northern extremity of Si- 
beria was reached. Here flags were raised and a salute 
was fired. The only party to observe these demonstra- 
tions was a large white bear, and he plainly manifested 
his disapproval of the proceedings. The next day the 



5o6 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

ships proceeded along the east coast of the peninsula. 
A week later they separated. The Lena sailed up the 
river to its destination, Yakutsk, which it reached on the 
2ist of September. 

The progress of the Vega was retarded by ice, but 
North Cape was reached on the 12th of September. 
Here it was detained for nearly a week. Several excur- 
sions were made on the adjoining land, which led to some 
very interesting discoveries. Among these were ruins of 
the habitations of a people, probably allied to the Eski- 
mos, who inhabited this region some hundreds of years 
ago. Fogs and ice caused constant trouble, but on the 
27th of September the east side of Kolintschin Bay was 
reached and the vessel was anchored. It was fully ex- 
pected that the voyage would be resumed on the next 
day, but the night was cold and the numerous floes were 
frozen together so firmly that they could not be pene- 
trated. It was hoped that the ice would soon break up, 
but winds from the north continued to pack heavy masses 
along the coast, and new ice was rapidly formed by the 
increasino; cold. Before the close of November it was 
evident that the Vega was frozen in for the winter. 

The ship w^as now near the northern part of Bering 
Strait, and only one hundred and fifteen miles from the 
Pacific Ocean. Had this point been reached one day 
sooner the voyage could undoubtedly have been contin- 
ued without special difficulty, and an imprisonment in the 
ice for nearly ten months would have been avoided. Nei- 
ther would the delay have occurred in an ordinary season. 
But cold weather came unusually early, and navigation 
closed more than tw^o weeks before the date up to which 
whaling ships had, in different years, been able to get 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 507 

into open water. During the winter meteorological and 
magnetic observations were regularly taken which have 
proved of great scientific interest and value. The ship 
was occasionally visited by Eskimos, of whom there were 
some two hundred living in the vicinity. The cold was 
severe, but there was no day upon which the rays of the 
sun were not seen above the horizon. 

On the 1 8th of July, 1879, after being frozen in for two 
hundred and ninety-four days, the Vega got free from the 
ice and proceeded to Bering Strait. Two days later the 
Northeast Passage, for which Willoughby commenced 
the search three hundred and twenty-six years before, and 
which many others had vainly attempted to find, was 
completed. Again the Swedish flag was raised and a 
salute was fired. The point had been reached at which, 
as Professor Nordenskjold expresses it, " the Old and the 
New World seem to shake hands." After visiting the 
shores of Bering Strait the Vega sailed for Yokohama, 
which port it reached on the 2d of September. 

Omitting a description of various minor expeditions, 
we must find room for an outline of an important one 
sent out by the British Government in 1875. The ob- 
jects of this expedition were to reach the Pole, if possible ; 
to explore any regions which might be visited, but which 
had not previously been seen or described ; and to obtain 
information that would be useful in forming plans for 
further operations in this direction. 

Two ships, the Alert and the Discovery, were fully 
equipped for the purpose and were liberally supplied 
with provisions and other necessities. Captain Nares 
was appointed commander. The ships sailed on the 29th 
of May. Several islands off the Greenland coast were 



5o8 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

visited, and a number of dogs and two drivers were ob- 
tained. Smith Sound was reached on the 29th of July, 
and for more than a month the ships had extreme diffi- 
culty in passing through the ice which almost constantly 
blocked their way. 

The Discovery went into winter quarters at the shore 
of Lady Franklin Inlet, in latitude 81° 44'. The Alert 
pressed on, through a channel of open water which ap- 
peared between the ice and the shore, passed the point 
which the Polaris party had named Cape Union, and 
entered what appeared to be an open Polar Sea. On the 
ist of September a position was gained nearer the Pole 
than any ship had previously reached, and the white flag 
was hoisted in celebration of the event. All the indica- 
tions were favorable for further progress ; but the channel 
soon ended, the wind changed, and the ship was carried 
near the shore. A comparatively safe place was reached, 
and on the 3d of September the ship was frozen in. The 
latitude was 82° 27^ In this until then wholly unknown 
region the party were obliged to spend the winter. 

During the autumn depots of provisions were estab- 
lished for the use of sledging parties in the spring. 
Winter brought the darkness and dreariness which are 
among the chief characteristics of the Arctic regions at 
this season of the year. In March the cold was intense. 
On the 3d of that month the thermometers registered 73° 
below zero, but the following day brought some compen- 
sation in the fact that for a short time the sun was visible 
above the hills. But the cold, terrible as it was, proved 
less trying than did the sudden and violent changes in 
temperature, which sometimes amounted to sixty degrees 
within a few hours. As they were farther north than 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 509 

bears, birds, or seals are found, fresh meat could not be 
obtained. One of the results of this deprivation was the 
prevalence of the scurvy, from attacks of which several 
members of the party died. 

As early in the spring as it was practicable, sledging 
parties were sent out from each of the ships. One of 
these, led by Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr, 
moved due north, with instructions to go as far as pos- 
sible in that direction and in hope of reaching the Pole ; 
another, under Lieutenant Aldrich, was to pass to the 
west, making explorations along the American coast; and 
a third, led by Lieutenant Beaumont, of the Discovery, 
was to move eastward along the northern coast of Green- 
land. These expeditions led to many interesting dis- 
coveries, some of which were of great value to scientists. 
One of these was the finding of the remains of a great 
evergreen - forest in latitude 82° 44^, a discovery which 
proves that vast climatic changes have occurred in this 
now desolate and barren region. 

Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr reached a 
latitude of 83° 20' 26", a point farther north than any pre- 
vious explorer had reached. The enormous amount of 
labor involved in this undertaking may be estimated from 
the fact that although this spot was only seventy-three 
miles, in a straight course, from the ship, the party 
travelled two hundred and seventy-six miles going, and 
two hundred and forty-five miles on the return trip. The 
journey was largely over ranges of ice hills, many of them 
twenty feet in height, through ravines filled with snow, 
over or around vast piles of broken ice, or on floes where 
it was necessary to use picks or axes to make a path over 
which the sledge could be drawn. Add to all this the 



Sio EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

suffering and the depression of the vital forces caused by 
the severe cold of the inhospitable region, and it hardly 
seems possible that the human frame could endure the 
terrible hardships to which these resolute explorers were 
subjected. 

Lieutenant Aldrich and his party explored two hun- 
dred and twenty miles of coast line of which no chart had 
previously been made. Lieutenant Beaumont, with his 
company, made a survey of the northern coast of Green- 
land for a distance of some seventy miles. They all 
endured severe suffering. Several of the men were taken 
ill, and their already overburdened companions had to 
draw them on sledges for long distances, and one of the 
Beaumont party died on the way. 

When his men returned to the Alert, Captain Nares 
decided that it was not advisable to continue the work of 
exploration. It was evident that at the point which he 
had reached the ice firmly and permanently closed navi- 
gation. Further attempts of sledging parties to reach the 
Pole, from the place then occupied, would certainly result 
in failure, would involve a vast amount of suffering, and 
probably would cause the loss of many lives. The men 
were already weakened by exposure, toil, and disease. It 
was therefore determined that the expedition should not 
remain there another winter. 

It was not till the 31st of July that a passage through 
the ice appeared. Upon that day the Alert commenced 
her homeward voyage. The ship was often in great dan- 
ger from vast masses of floating ice, but it reached Lady 
Franklin Inlet in safety on the nth of August. The 
Discovery was at once put in readiness, but on account of 
the ice the ships did not leave the port until the 20th of 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 511 

the month. They reached Melville Bay on the i8th of 
September, and the Arctic Circle was crossed on the 4th 
of October, just fifteen months from the day the ships 
sailed over it when they were outward bound. Ice, and 
storms, and adverse winds were encountered, and there 
were some vexatious delays ; but on the 2d of November, 
1876, the vessels sailed into the harbor of Portsmouth. 

Although numerous and earnest efforts had been made 
to find records of the Sir John Franklin expedition, they 
had, with the single exception of the paper discovered by 
Lieutenant McClintock, been utter failures. That such 
documents would be of great value, both from an histori- 
cal and a scientific point of view, was evident. That they 
were in existence, seemed probable from the fact that 
various parties of Eskimos, from whom articles which had 
unquestionably belonged to the unfortunate party had 
been obtained, told of books and papers which many 
years before white men had placed in cairns in their 
country. These rumors were repeated, not only by ex- 
plorers, but by the masters of whaling ships which had 
visited that region. Among the parties who became 
greatly interested in these reports was Lieutenant Fred- 
erick Schwatka, of the United States Army. Mainly 
through his efforts, an expedition, the expenses of which 
were met by private subscription, was organized. A ship 
named the Eothen was obtained and fitted for service in 
the ice, a crew of twenty-three men was secured, and 
Schwatka, who had been granted leave of absence from 
the army, was placed in command of the exploring party. 
While the main purpose of the expedition was to find the 
records of the Franklin party, there was also the impor- 
tant secondary object of obtaining valuable geographical 
information. 



512 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

On the 19th of June, 1878, the ship sailed from New 
York, and on the 7th of August reached Rowe's Wel- 
come Strait, an arm of Hudson Bay. They were here 
visited by friendly natives. Winter was spent on the 
mainland, near Depot Island, in latitude 63° 51'. The 
reports of the natives in regard to the prospect of finding 
the records in search of which the party had come were 
not encouraging. One of the visitors said that, long be- 
fore that time, his father had found, in a cairn on King 
William Land, a box containing a written paper ; but as 
the latter appeared to be of no use to himself or his 
people, it had been thrown away. But he also told of 
another cairn which had not been opened, and of a spoon, 
which had been given to Captain Porter, which had un- 
doubtedly been used by the Europeans who had perished 
in that region. Mr. Gilder, who was second officer of the 
expedition, found Captain Porter, who was on a whaling 
ship not far distant ; but the information obtained from 
him was most disheartening. 

Notwithstanding the discouragements that had been 
met, it was determined to prosecute the search. Mr. 
Gilder visited an Eskimo settlement more than seventy 
miles away, to obtain some dogs. Upon his return a 
great sledge journey was commenced. The Schwatka 
party was accompanied by thirteen Innuits, including 
women and children. The winter camp was left on April 
I, 1879. The teams consisted of forty-two dogs, and the 
sledges were loaded with food supplies sufficient to last 
for five or six weeks. They proceeded toward the north- 
west, through a region that had not been explored. For 
some time travel was very slow and difficult. On the 
15th of May a party of natives was found, and informa- 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS 513 

tion corroborating many of the points learned by previous 
explorers was obtained. 

The journey was continued to Back's River. Montreal 
Island was searched for traces of the missing men, but 
without success. Richardson Point was crossed, and a 
party of natives were met from whom considerable addi- 
tional information was obtained. On the 4th of June 
Schwatka and Gilder examined a cairn which had been 
built by Captain Hall over the remains of two men of the 
Franklin party. At a spot where a party of Europeans 
had encamped, they found many articles and also an open 
grave. A medal that had been placed on a stone at this 
grave indicated that Lieutenant Irving, of the Terror, had 
been buried there. The skull and what other bones 
could be obtained were taken in charge, and in due time 
were forwarded to Irving's relatives in Scotland. Other 
skeletons were found, but they could not be identified, and 
were therefore buried. 

By the 3d of July the northern part of King William 
Land was reached, and four days later the party turned 
toward the south. Travelling was exceedingly difficult. 
Several cairns were found and various places where white 
men had camped. At Erebus Bay remains of a boat and 
numerous small articles were discovered. Parts of sev- 
eral skeletons were also found and interred. Early in the 
autumn many reindeer were met with and an abundance 
of meat for immediate use was obtained, but by the mid- 
dle of October these animals had entirely disappeared. - ^ 

After a period of rest the march was resumed on the 

loth of December. Food supplies were scanty; and 

when an occasional reindeer was obtained the flesh was 

poor, and it was frozen as well as raw when eaten. 

33 



514 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

Wolves were exceedingly troublesome, and some of the 
party had narrow escapes from destruction by these fero- 
cious beasts. Heavy snow-storms were frequent, and 
often prevented progress a week or more at a time. 
The cold was terribly severe, the mean temperature for 
January being 53° below zero. During the winter there 
were sixteen days when the thermometer indicated a 
temperature of 68° below zero, and on one day it marked 
71° below. The men endured fearful suffering, and many 
of the dogs perished. By almost superhuman exertions 
Depot Island was reached on the 4th of March. But here 
a terrible disappointment awaited the almost exhausted 
party. The captain of the Eothen had not delivered the 
provisions which he had agreed to bring to that point. 
The only ship in the region was at Marble Island. This 
was reached after a wearisome march which occupied 
seventeen days. 

Such, in brief, is the history of the longest and most 
remarkable sledge journey hitherto made. The distance 
travelled was three thousand two hundred and fifty-one 
miles, and most of the journey was in not only a desolate, 
but in an entirely unexplored region. The company were 
out during an entire winter, and one which, according 
to the testimony of the natives, was of unusual severity. 
The hardship of the journey was greatly increased by 
the fact that during most of the long period which it 
occupied the entire food supplies for men and dogs were 
obtained from the scanty resources of the country which 
they traversed. The principal results of the expedition 
were the interment of the bones of the crews of the 
Erebus and the Terror, the acquirement of much valuable 
geographical information, and the establishment beyond 



HEROIC ENDEAVORS l^^l 

a doubt that the records of the unfortunate Franklin 
party had been irretrievably lost. The return voyage 
was completed on the 2 2d of September, 1880. The 
energy and skill of Lieutenant Schwatka in the conduct 
of the enterprise received full recognition at home and 
abroad. 



CHAPTER XXIX 



GREAT DISASTERS 



In the year 1879 Lieutenant G. W. De Long, of the 
United States Navy, was placed in command of an expe- 
dition which had for its principal object the discovery of 
the North Pole. This officer had served as a subordinate 
on the Juniata, in its voyage in search of Captain Hall, 
and was greatly interested in the subject of Arctic explo- 
ration. At his earnest solicitation Mr. James Gordon 
Bennett, of the " New York Herald," purchased and 
fitted out a ship, which was named the Jeannette, and 
which, for the purpose of exploring the Arctic regions, 
was placed under the control of the United States Gov- 
ernment. Lieutenant Chipp was appointed executive 
officer ; Lieutenant John W. Danenhower, master ; and 
George W. Melville, engineer, — all belonging to the 
navy. Unfortunately, the Bering Strait route was se- 
lected. 

On the 8th of July, 1879, the Jeannette sailed from San 
Francisco with thirty-two persons on board. Progress 
was slow, as the winds were unfavorable and the ship was 
heavily loaded. At St. Michael's, Alaska, forty dogs were 
obtained, and some Indians were employed to go with the 
expedition as drivers and hunters. According to gov- 
ernment instructions, search was made for Professor Nor- 
denskjold, who was known to have started on a voyage of 
exploration with a view to obtaining information and also 



GREAT DISASTERS 



517 



to render assistance if necessary. On the last day of 
August it was learned that the Vega, Nordenskjold's ship, 
had passed the winter in the bay which the Jeannette had 
reached, and had since sailed to the south. 

An attempt was made to proceed to Wrangell Land, 
but in less than a week progress was stopped by ice. On 
the 8th of September there 
was a desperate effort to 
force a way to Herald 
Island, but only a little 
headway was made. A 
few days later a party with 
dogs and a sled proceeded 
to the island, in hope of 
finding a harbor, and also 
of securing some drift wood 
for fuel, but it was unsuc- 
cessful. 

The ship had been 
heeled over some five de- 
grees, and in this position 
was firmly held in the ice. 
It drifted, with the floe, in various directions, sometimes 
out to sea and at others within sig^ht of land. Durins^ the 
first half of November large cracks appeared in the floe 
and huge masses of ice were thrown near the ship, which 
was in imminent danger of being crushed. On the 24th 
of the month the ship got afloat, and in a few days it 
was sent adrift in a gale, but was soon frozen in again. 

Toward the close of the year Lieutenant Danenhower 
was disabled by an affection of one of his eyes, and for a 
long period was obliged to remain in a darkened room. 




LIEUT. G. \V. DE LONG, U. S. N. 



5i8 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

The ship was in constant peril from the ice, and on the 
19th of January the fore-foot was broken, and it com- 
menced to leak badly. The deck pumps were put into 
immediate use, and as soon as was possible the steam 
pump was started. Attempts to fill the cracks somewhat 
diminished, but did not nearly stop, the inflow of water. 

Early in June De Long had strong hopes that the 
voyage could soon be resumed, but the ship did not get 
free of the ice, and of course continued to drift. Fogs 
and storms were frequent, and there was constant danger. 
It was not till the ist of September that a shift occurred 
which brought the ship on an even keel. It was still 
fast in the ice, and efforts to release it resulted in in- 
creasing the already dangerous leak. It soon became evi- 
dent that the ship would not get clear until after another 
winter at least. It had drifted over an immense area, 
sometimes in straight lines but often in circles, — and it 
seemed destined to continue this erratic course indefi- 
nitely. 

On the 1 6th of May, 1881, land was seen, the first for 
fourteen months. This was an island, and the ship drifted 
past it on the following day. It was named, in honor of 
the ship, Jeannette Island. On the 24th of the month an- 
other island was sighted. This was visited early in June 
by Engineer Melville and several other members of the 
party. It was named Henrietta Island, and was formally 
taken possession of in the name of the United States. 

On the 12th of June the floe split in pieces and the 
ship was set free, but floating masses of ice pressed upon 
it and its bows were raised in the air. De Long gave 
orders to remove the chronometers, rifles, and other indis- 
pensable articles to the ice and prepare to leave the^ship. 



GREAT DISASTERS 519 

At about eleven o'clock that night the boats were lowered 
and the men formed a camp on one of the portions of 
the broken floe. At four o'clock on the morning of June 
13, 1 88 1, the masses of ice which had held it fast sepa- 
rated, and the ship went down. 

Several of the ship's company were ill, and the surgeon 
advised a brief period of rest. On the 17th of June, at 
6 p. M., the retreat toward the south commenced. The 
company travelled at night, in order to escape the blinding 
glare of the sun upon the snow. They had three boats, 
nine sleds, a large quantity of pemmican, and a fair supply 
of ammunition. The men were harnessed to the sleds. 
On account of the large quantity of material, it was ne- 
cessary to go over the same ground several times. The 
snow was deep and the toil was exhausting. After a 
week of this wearying labor, observations by the officer 
showed that not only had no progress been made, but that 
the drift to the northwest had been twenty-seven miles 
farther than their advance to the south. Toward the 
close of the month the conditions improved, and some 
progress was made in the direction in which they desired 
to go. 

On the nth of July Bennett Island was discovered. 
On the 28th of the month a landing was effected, a flag 
was unfurled, and the party took possession in behalf of 
the United States. Here they camped for several days. 
On the 6th of August the party took to the boats. Of 
these the larger cutter was commanded by De Long, the 
smaller cutter by Lieutenant Chipp, and the whale-boat 
by Engineer Melville. On the nth of September the 
men landed on an island off the Asiatic coast, and a 
hunting party was sent out. The next morning they 



520 



EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 



left the camp and proceeded on their course toward the 
southwest. For several hours the boats kept near to- 
gether ; but a gale came up in the afternoon, and early in 




From Melville's " In the Lena Delta." By the permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

the evening they were separated, never to be brought near 
each other again. 

The whale-boat was brought into one of the mouths of 
the Lena River. The men were almost exhausted, but 
by the help of a native pilot they worked up the river to a 
village, where they waited for the ice to form so they could 
proceed with sleds. A Russian exile went to Bulun to 
notify the authorities. Lieutenant Danenhower made a 



GREAT DISASTERS 521 

search with a dog team for the other boats, but no trace 
of them was found. 

On the 29th of October word was received that a party 
of natives had met two sailors of the De Lons: boat and 
were taking them to Bulun. The sailors had sent a note 
to the effect that De Long and the remainder of his party 
were in a starving condition. With one native and a 
team of dogs Engineer Melville went at once to learn the 
location of De Long and give him relief. Lieutenant 
Danenhower took charge of the remainder of the party 
and went to Bulun. He then followed Melville to aid in 
the search for the missing men. At Yakutsk a dispatch 
from the Secretary of the Navy was received. This di- 
rected that the invalid and frozen members of the party 
be removed to a warmer locality. Danenhower and his 
party went to Irkoutsk. From this point the lieutenant 
telegraphed for permission to renew the search, but on 
account of the condition of his health the request was not 
granted. He therefore returned home, reaching New 
York, with three of his men, on the ist of June. With 
the exception of an Indian, who had died of the smallpox 
in Russia, the remainder of the whale-boat crew and the 
two men whom De Long had sent forward for relief were 
all in the United States early in 1882. One of the mem- 
bers, however, had become insane and was placed in a 
government institution for that unfortunate class. 

The history of the De Long party and their terrible 
fate was fully learned from the journal in which the 
leader made frequent entries up to almost the hour of his 
death, and from the testimony of the two men who were 
saved. On the fifth day after the separation, their boat 
was driven upon the ground. Most of its contents were 



522 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

taken on shore, and preparations were made to walk to 
what was supposed to be the nearest settlement, about 
ninety-five miles away. The journey was commenced 
September 19. The walking was extremely hard, the 
loads were heavy, and the men were feeble from their 
exposure and sufferings in the boat. An occasional rein- 
deer was killed, which eked out their scanty supplies of 
provisions. On the 3d of October there was nothing to 
eat, and the last dog was killed for food. A few days 
later, one of the men, who had bq^n badly frost-bitten and 
very ill for some time, died. As the party had nothing 
with which to dig a grave, the body was buried in the 
river. On the 9th the two men who finally reached 
home were sent in advance, to obtain relief if possible. 
On the loth the De Long party had nothing to eat but 
deer-skin scraps. On the 1 7th one of the men died, and 
at midnight of the 21st another was found dead. Part of 
divine service was read on Sunday the 23d. Upon some 
days no entry was made. Upon others the death of one 
or more members of the party was recorded. The last 
entry was dated Sunday, October 30. It states that two 
men had died during the night and that another was 
dying. This left De Long, the surgeon, and one sailor, 
all of whom must have died soon after the record last 
named was made. 

The two seamen sent on by De Long endured the 
most terrible sufferings before they were rescued by some 
friendly natives. Life was sustained by eating their boot 
soles, burned bones, and pieces of their seal-skin clothes, 
in addition to a bird and an occasional fish. The natives 
took them to Bulun. A telegram was sent to Engineer 
Melville, who reached there on the 3d of November. 



GREAT DISASTERS 523 

After learning the direction in which De Long had pro- 
ceeded, he started for the Lena Delta. He obtained rec- 
ords from native hunters which enabled him to find the 
log-books and other articles which had been left on the 
shore. A long search, entailing great suffering, proved 
unavailing. As it was certain that the missing party had 
perished, and that nothing more could be done until a 
more favorable season opened and further supplies were 
obtained, Melville proceeded to Yakutsk. 

Early in spring the search was resumed, and on the 23d 
of March, 1882, the last camp of the party was found and 
the bodies of ten of the men who had died at that point. 
One of the men, as De Long's journal stated, had died 
in a boat, and the body had probably been swept into the 
river near which the camp was formed. A tomb was 
erected on a bluff, and the bodies, in a box which had 
been made for the purpose, were placed therein. A 
cross, twenty-two feet high, was erected. Upon this cross 
was the following inscription : " In Memory of 1 2 of The 
Officers And Men of The Arctic Steamer Jeannette, who 
Died of Starvation In The Lena Delta, October, 1881." 
This was followed by the names of the men who met this 
terrible fate. Afterward caskets were sent to Siberia, and 
the bodies were brought to the United States. 

After the separation of the boats in the gale of the 12th 
of September, Lieutenant Chipp and his party were never 
seen. There can be no doubt that the frail craft, with all 
on board, was engulfed in the sea. 

As whaling vessels returning from the North Pacific in 
1879 brought no news of the Jeannette, and two ships of 
the whaling fleet which had been near where the explor- 
ing vessel was to go did not come back, the government 



524 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

sent out the steamer Corwin to look after the seal fish- 
eries in Alaskan waters and also to search for the missing 
vessels. The Corwin sailed from San Francisco in May, 
1880, and returned the following October. No trace of 
the vessels was found. In 1881 the government sent out 
three ships on the same errand. One of these was the 
Corwin, which sailed from San Francisco on the 4th of 
May and again returned in October. Evidence was ob- 
tained that the two whaling ships had been wrecked and 
their crews had perished. 

On the 1 6th of June the Rodgers sailed from San 
Francisco for Bering Strait. While in St. Lawrence 
Bay, late in November, the ship was burned. The offi- 
cers and crew were relieved by a whaling vessel. The 
steamer Alliance was sent to search between Greenland 
and Iceland, and along the coast of Norway and Spitzber- 
gen. She left Hampton Roads on the i6th of June and 
reached New York, on the return trip, on the nth of 
November. Although none of these expeditions found 
traces of the yeannette, a great amount of geographical 
and scientific knowledge was obtained. 

In carrying out its part in an international plan for tak- 
ing observations in the Arctic regions, the United States 
established, in 1881, two stations. One of these was 
located at Ooglaamie, near Point Barrow, in Alaska. 
The expedition was in charge of Lieutenant Ray, of the 
army, who sailed from San Francisco on the i8th of 
July, and reached his destination early in September. 
This party was recalled by an act of Congress, and 
reached San Francisco on the 2d of October, 1883. 

The other expedition had a terrible experience. It 
was sent to establish a station near Lady Frankhn Bay. 



GREAT DISASTERS 525 

The objects in view were the making of explorations, 
the collection of animal, vegetable, and mineral specimens, 
and the taking of meteorological, magnetic, and other 
observations in accordance with the plan adopted by 
the International Conference, to which the establishment 
of this station and the one in Alaska was due. 

Lieutenant A. W. Greely, of the army, was placed in 
charge of the party, w^hich consisted of twenty-three men. 
Two Eskimos joined it at Upernavik. Very minute di- 
rections as to the work to be done, and the course to be 
pursued, were given by the government. A ship was to 
be sent each year with supplies, and depots of provisions 
were to be established at specified points. If the ships 
did not reach the station, Greely was to commence a 
retreat not later than September i, 1883. 

On the 7th of July, 1881, the party sailed from St. 
John's, Newfoundland, in the ProteuSy a steamer which 
had been chartered for the purpose. At various points 
stops were made to procure dogs, obtain additional sup- 
plies, establish depots of provisions, and complete prepa- 
rations for a long sojourn in a desolate land. 

Littleton Island was reached on the 2d of August. 
Two days later, when only eight miles from the place of 
destination, progress was checked by ice. During the 
next few days the ship was driven back forty-five miles. 
On the loth the wind changed, and the next day the ship 
crossed Lady Franklin Bay. It was decided to locate 
where the English vessel, the Discovery, of the 1875 expe- 
dition, had wintered. With great difficulty a passage was 
forced through the ice which had formed in the harbor. 
At a point about one hundred yards from the shore the 
ship anchored, and the work of unloading was com- 



526 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

menced. A house was constructed, and the station was 
named Fort Conger. After a delay of several days, occa- 
sioned by ice at the entrance to the harbor, the steamer 
started on her return voyage, which was made in safety. 
Two of the party, who did not appear able to endure the 
hardships of the service, returned in the ship. 

In accordance with the arrangement made when Greely 
was sent out, a vessel was despatched with supplies in 
1882. This was the Neptune, which sailed from St. 
John's on the 8th of July, with William M. Beebe, a pri- 
vate in the general service, in charge. On account of ice 
and storms the station was not reached. Provisions were 
stored at various points and the ship returned. 

In 1883 the government sent out two ships, the Pro- 
teus and the Yantic, with supplies for Greely and his 
party. This expedition was commanded by Lieutenant 
Garlington, of the army. The Proteus, in which Gar- 
lington sailed, was a strong vessel well fitted for service in 
the ice. The Yantic, with Commander Wildes in charge, 
w^as a much smaller, weaker, and slower craft. 

The expedition left St. John's on the 29th of June. 
Godhavn was reached in safety. The Yantic was obliged 
to stay a few days for necessary repairs, and Vv^as then to 
go to Waigat Strait for coal. As soon as the weather 
permitted, the Proteus resumed the voyage, but soon 
encountered ice, was compelled to head toward the 
south, and was repeatedly turned from a direct course. 
At length Cape Sabine was reached, and the ship was 
anchored in Payer Harbor. Here the party remained 
four and a half hours. Whether the instructions were too 
indefinite, were misunderstood, or the commander of the 
expedition did not realize the vast importance of leaving 



GREAT DISASTERS 527 

a full supply of provisions at this point, which Greely and 
his men were almost sure to visit two months later if the 
ship failed to reach Lady Franklin Bay, cannot be told, 
but the opportunity for leaving supplies was not improved. 
Two small depots of provisions which had been formed by 
preceding parties were visited, and one of them was re- 
paired. Various magnetic and other observations were 
taken, and the work of the expedition at this point was 
closed. 

As the ice-pack appeared to have broken, the voyage 
was resumed in the evening. After proceeding about 
twenty miles, ice was again encountered. On the morn- 
ing of the 23d of July the situation was so perilous that 
an effort was made to return to the south ; but in the 
afternoon the ship was hemmed in, and before nightfall it 
was crushed by enormous masses of ice. Early in the 
evenino- a changre in the tide caused a movement of the 
ice which relieved the pressure, and the ship at once 
went down. 

When it became evident that the ship would be 
wrecked, the boats and a quantity of provisions were 
taken out. After the Proteus went down the crew took 
three of the boats and the relief party the other two. A 
small quantity of provisions and a few other stores were 
landed near Cape Sabine. One party, under Lieutenant 
Colwell, who had accompanied the expedition as a volun- 
teer, and had taken charge of the meteorological work, 
but who was not in authority, sailed across Melville Bay 
in hope of finding the Yantic. After being in their boat 
thirty-eight days, exposed to cold, encountering ice and 
tremendous gales, and covering a distance of eight hun- 
dred miles, the weary party arrived at Disco, where, to 



528 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

their inexpressible relief, they found the ship. Garlington 
and his party, including the crew of the Proteus, had kept 
along the shore and reached Upernavik on the 24th of 
August, only two days after the Yantic had left that port 
for fear of being frozen in. Immediately upon the arrival 
of Lieutenant Colwell, the Yantic returned to Upernavik, 
took Garlington and his men on board, and sailed for 
St. John's, where it arrived on the 1 3th of September. 

The season was so far advanced that it would be worse 
than useless to make further attempts to relieve Greely 
that year, but the government soon commenced prepara- 
tions for sending an expedition at the earliest moment it 
would be possible to enter the Arctic Sea. Two ships, 
the Thetis and the Bear, were purchased ; and the Alert, 
which had been used by Captain Nares in the expedition 
of 1875, was donated for the purpose by the British Gov- 
ernment. A steamer, the Loch Garry, was chartered at 
St. John's to carry a supply of coal to Littleton Island. 

Commander W. S. Schley, of the navy, was placed in 
charge of this expedition. The ships were fully equipped, 
and officers were chosen and crews selected with great 
care. Provisions were taken for two years. To induce 
owners of whaling vessels to interest themselves in the 
case, Congress offered a reward of $25,000 for the rescue 
of the Greely expedition or conclusive information regard- 
ing its fate. 

On the 24th of April, 1884, the Bear sailed from New 
York. On May i the Thetis \dX the same port, and the 
Alert followed on May 10. The advance ships, the 
Thetis and the Bear, had much trouble with ice in Mel- 
ville Bay, but succeeded in reaching Littleton Island — 
the Thetis on the 21st, and the Bear on the 2 2d of June. 



GREAT DISASTERS 529 

Finding that Greely had not reached the island, the 
ships at once proceeded toward Cape Sabine. Late in 
the afternoon of the 2 2d they were stopped by ice. 
Several parties were sent ashore, one of which soon dis- 
covered records of the missing explorers. The latest of 
these was dated October 21, 1883, and stated that full 
rations for only forty days remained. There seemed to 
be hardly a possibility that any of the party could have 
survived. Lieutenant Colwell, with a few others, pushed 
forward in a cutter, followed as soon as possible by the 
ships, to the site of the Greely camp, as stated in the 
papers that had been found. This was about five miles 
west of Cape Sabine. Fortunately, the wind had driven 
the ice from the shore, thus giving a free course. 

About nine o'clock in the evening Colwell and his 
party reached the camp. Here Greely and six of his 
men were found. The others had perished. All the sur- 
vivors were feeble ; and several, including Greely, were 
almost at the point of death. They were given restora- 
tives and a little food, and, when somewhat revived, were 
taken aboard the ships. The bodies of thirteen of the 
dead were recovered. Of these, one, an Eskimo, was 
buried at Disco. The other twelve were taken to the 
United States. Five bodies that had been buried at the 
camp had been swept into the sea. Besides the seventeen 
men who had died of starvation, 6ne had been drowned 
while endeavoring to procure food, and one who was 
rescued had been so badly frost-bitten, and was so 
reduced by exposure and want of food, that he died on 
the homeward journey. 

Greely and his men abandoned Fort Conger August 
9, 1883, were adrift on ice for thirty days, and were com- 
34 



530 EARLIER ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS 

pelled to abandon their boats before they reached the 
spot where the final camp was made, and where they 
remained from October 21, 1883, until June 22, 1884, 
During the winter gales were numerous, and great quan- 
tities of ice were driven through the channel, thus pre- 
venting its freezing over and thereby cutting off the party 
from the supplies of food which were stored on Littleton 
Island. 

The Thetis, Bear, and Loch Garry reached St. John's 
on July 17, 1884, and the Alert arrived on the following 
day. About a week later the three vessels which be- 
longed to the government sailed for Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, where they arrived on the ist of August. 
Here the party was received by the Secretary of the 
Navy and other prominent officials, and a public recep- 
tion was given. On the 8th of August the ships reached 
New York. Officers of the army and navy were pres- 
ent, and the relief expedition was received with imposing 
ceremonies. 

While the station was maintained at Fort Conger much 
was done in the way of exploration, and some valuable 
discoveries were made. A party under Lieutenant 
Lockwood reached latitude ^f 24', a point farther north 
than had been gained by civilized man, and which was 
not again attained until the intrepid Nansen made his 
splendid effort to reach the Pole. 

Such, in brief, is the history of many of the principal 
expeditions to the Arctic regions, from the time of the 
early sea rovers, who were animated by the spirit of 
adventure as well as by curiosity, down to the return of 
the survivors of the Greely party, which went out in the 
interests of science and discovery. The daring deeds and 



GREAT DISASTERS 



531 



brilliant successes of the more recent explorers have been 
described in the earlier part of this volume. 

The history of these Arctic explorations is a record of 
magnificent courage, unswerving devotion, and splendid 
achievement. The world does well to honor the heroes 
who have done so much to extend its commerce and give 
it a knowledge of the character and condition of vast 
regions, which, but for their efforts, would have still 
remained unknown. 




